Old Habits are Hard to Break

The Iranian Government, sticking by it's claims of meddling and interference by western powers took the drastic step of actually arresting all of the remaining staff members in Britain's Tehran embassy Saturday afternoon. Luckily, the preceding week the British government ordered all non essential personnel and family members evacuated from Britain's embassy in Iran; thankfully this foresight will help mitigate the diplomatic fallout that is soon to follow. Much like the hostage situation of 1979, the Islamic Republic still believes that what passes as a show of "force" can intimidate other countries into cooperation. They are gravely mistaken.

It is sad to see that over the past 30 years the Islamic regime has not learned any lessons from the past, and worst yet, sees the failures of the past as victories. Feeling that tactics of intimidation are their best weapon against the "Zionists", a failing Iranian government is practically inviting a military conflict with the west. This is combined with the fact that Iran has been running military exercises in the Gulf Coast since the protests started. If I didn't know any better, I would say they want to provoke a conflict with the Western powers in order to distract their people from that they are doing at home.