How EU worked for Britain over Iran

No one in Britain ever points out the benefits being in the European Union. So I will. Just one small example more or less ignored by the country.

When Iran started arresting employees of the British Embassy in Tehran, the EU acted with one voice and called in all the Iranian ambassadors, country by country, to complain. It is what partners do.

It may be stretching it a bit to say that this turned the Iranians around on its own. But they cannot afford to alienate all of Europe. Britain, the not-quite-great Satan, yes. But not 27 countries representing almost 500 million people. 

As of this post, only one is still being held out of the estimated nine who were originally taken. Thank you, EU.

Roxana Saberi and the embrace of Iran

Is anybody of a certain age getting a strange deja vu, Cold War feeling about the sentencing of journalist Roxana Saberi for spying in Iran? Anyone remember Nick Daniloff? Journalists are such easy pickings. Gathering information and disseminating it is anathema to nasty regimes.

The timing is interesting, coming just a few days after Iran signalled some interest in following Washington's warming moves. Perhaps poor Ms Saberi will be the pawn that allows some talks to get going.

In the meantime, it does come under the "early test for Obama" category, as the Los Angeles Times points out. He is going to have to be very angry and concilatory at the same time if he really wants to end the Axis of Evil nonsense. And all those full-mooners at Fox and in the Republican party will be baying away that they knew it all along.