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London may take its customary place near the US

Commentary Materials 15 July 2019 15:44 (UTC +04:00)
The recent detention of the Iranian tanker at the request of the US directly involved London in the US-Iran confrontation.
London may take its customary place near the US

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 15

By Azer Ahmadbayli – Trend:

The recent detention of the Iranian tanker at the request of the US directly involved London in the US-Iran confrontation.

In addition to the obscurity of the legal reasoning for the detention of the tanker, it is also a reputational slap in the face for Tehran, which will keep it in mind. Whether London wants it or not, this act has brought the parties one step closer to destruction of the Iranian nuclear deal.

After the incident with the British oil tanker, which Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) allegedly tried to detain a few days ago, the UK began to discuss with the US the possibility of increasing British military presence in the Persian Gulf, said the official representative of the UK Government.

IRGC dismissed as baseless claims that its forces have attempted to capture a British oil tanker. “Over the last 24 hours, there have been no encounters with foreign vessels, including British vessels,” said the IRGC statement.

On default, UK is the closest political and military ally of US regardless of what party is sitting down at the British Parliament. It used to support the US military actions in different cases and in different times of history. Winston Churchill called it “Special Relationship” in his famous Fulton speech delivered in 1946. It showed itself in Korea at the beginning of 1950s, during the US invasion to Iraq in 2003, in Libya, Afghanistan and other places.

In the end of June, UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said Britain would consider joining a US military assault on Iran, saying requests are considered "on a case-by-case" basis".

If London can consider such possibility, can it be said that it is withdrawing from the nuclear deal? Apparently, Britain's involvement in the strike on Iran and compliance with the nuclear deal are two incompatible things.

Use of vague terminology like “almost certainly” or “highly likely” regarding recent incidents in the Persian Gulf is a clear evidence of London’s bias against Iran, showing that Euro-Atlantic interests are more important for the UK than the proof or lack of proof of any facts. Thus, all Iran's explanations hit a brick wall.

It seems that London is going to take its customary place near the United States. Would Paris and Berlin follow it?

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