A day in Tehran

In Revolutionary Iran,maps are political statements. And the eternal edginess of Iran-Britain ties was conveyed in the Revolutions early days when the Winston Churchill Avenue was renamed to honour Bobby Sands of the IRA. With what the Iranian authorities called students taken,by Iran-watchers,to be a euphemism for members of paramilitary forces adept at rallying the Iranian street invading the UK embassy compound on Tuesday,vandalising offices,carrying off souvenirs like a portrait of Elizabeth II,and even holding some staff members hostage for a while,those relations have been set on a rocky path once again. Whats less clear is how this event and its aftermath will affect Irans domestic equations,with Mahmoud Ahmadinejads civilian government seen to be increasingly isolated by the clerics who control most power centres.

The storming of the embassy followed a vote in the Iranian parliament calling for Tehran to downgrade ties with Britain in retaliation to financial sanctions imposed by London after an IAEA report detailed the extent of Irans nuclear programme. The vote was endorsed by the powerful Guardian Council. Fresh financial sanctions make it yet more difficult for Iran to fully exploit its oil resources,a key source of revenue for the Revolutionary Guards,whose imprint is being seen in the charged rhetoric during Tuesdays violence,if not the actual management.

The complex overlay of power structures in Iran makes it very difficult to clearly differentiate the lines of command but reports of differences between the Supreme Leader,Ayatollah Khamenei,and Ahmadinejad have been afloat for a while. There are believed to be differences,too,in Tehran over how to engage the global community on Irans nuclear programme. This is why the global reaction to the crude provocation on Tuesday should be measured,so that it does not tip the scales in favour of the hardliners. Isolation of Iran,in any case,doesnt benefit regional stability or that countrys people.