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04/04/2007: "Point: Iran"

In the ping-pong game that is international media relations, score a point for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In a winding, blustery speech this morning, he managed to berate his political enemies, get his thoughts out to the world in defiance of the United Nations - oh, and half way through, announced he'd release the 15 British military personnel that Iran has held for the last couple of weeks.

Ever since Iranian Coast Guard forces detained a British boarding party operating in waters contested between Iran and Iraq, the world has been waiting with breath held, hoping a sane solution would be found. Last week, the rhetoric between London and Tehran - and Washington - seemed to be quickly ramping up, leading many to believe the widely-believed rumors of an American-led invasion of Iran just might come to fruition. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and by earlier this week there was talk of a diplomatic solution.

This morning's announcement by Ahmadinejad seemed to catch everyone off guard, though, so I suspect it was a planned end play intended to trump the efforts of the superpowers while repairing the Iranian image in the world stage. Remember, the Brits were detained on the eve of a vote by the UN to once again condemn Iran for their efforts to develop a nuclear program, and effectively shifted the focus of the world media. Now, after several videos and letters from the hostages - all in violation of the Geneva Convention - Ahmadinejad is trying to paint himself as the benevolent, sane voice in the situation.

It's worth noting that in the 45-minutes of speech before announcing the pending release, Ahmadinejad managed to slam the Brits, the Americans, and the UN - all with the world media listening. He even got in a poke at the West by chastizing the British for allowing a mother to serve in the military - asking where was the Western respect for family values ...

Of course, there was the obligatory posturing, pinning of medals on chests and self-congratulatory rhetoric, but the important part is that this crisis is diffused - or will be, once the soldiers are delivered as promised to the British Embassy in Tehran.

Considering the way our administration manages to bungle press relations, they might want to look into hiring whoever's handling Ahmadinejad's media efforts ...

Replies: 2 Comments

On Thursday, April 5th, cynical Rav said:

the U.K. government seems, this time, to be so much 'luckier' (with - I presume - quiet, behind-the-scenes negotiations) than poor old Jimmy Carter.

Maybe their 'luck' is entrely Iran's as-planned show, anyway. In which case Stan is dead-right about whoever is Ahmedinejad's P.R. guru !

And, this time round, no-on ended up having to do an Iran-contra deal.

On Tuesday, April 10th, cynical Rav said:

well looks like the Bristish government managed to make their luck run-out !

First the Ministry of Defense says (unusually) it is o.k. this time for the hostages to sell their stories to the Newspapers and TV.
sort of "Semper Finance" (ouch !)
Then a couple of days later (not immediately) the junior minister of defense says no it isn't

Talk about shutting the door after the horse has bolted !

Doesn't matter too much really , except the coverage does not look all that different from the coverage the Iranian TV gave (except, of course, that the two who did get their personal story out insisted they were not telling the truth when they "confessed" to being inside Iranian waters - which we all presumed anyway)