British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure to side with President Trump as the United Kingdom’s diplomatic dispute with Iran escalates after the detention of London’s ambassador to Tehran.
Backbench members of Parliament called for a tougher British response to Tehran after the Foreign Office responded to the detention by summoning Iran’s ambassador for an official dressing down. Johnson said he remains committed to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal despite growing demands from the United States that it be abandoned.
The moves in London came two days after Rob Macaire, the British ambassador to Tehran, was held for several hours while protests erupted across Iran on Saturday at the shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner.
He said he attended a vigil for victims of flight 752, including British nationals, but left after five minutes when it erupted into an anti-government protest. He was arrested 30 minutes later, according to his tweet.
Thanks for the many goodwill messages. Can confirm I wasn’t taking part in any demonstrations! Went to an event advertised as a vigil for victims of #PS752 tragedy. Normal to want to pay respects- some of victims were British. I left after 5 mins, when some started chanting.
— Rob Macaire (@HMATehran) January 12, 2020
Speaking as British ministers updated MPs on the latest developments, Bob Blackman, a Conservative backbencher, called for tougher action. He said: “Is it not time that we sent a very strong signal by proscribing the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], freezing their assets and saying we’ll unfreeze them, we’ll give you an opportunity once you restore proper, normal, diplomatic actions and behaviors across the world?”
His words came amid increasing demands from the U.S. that the U.K. abandon the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in order to increase pressure on Tehran. Last week, Trump blamed the agreement for allowing Iran to finance terror operations around the world, calling on signatories to recognize the damage it had done.
It puts Johnson at a European crossroads as he attempts to negotiate a trade deal with Trump and plot a post-Brexit course just as Trump signals a more muscular stance with a drone strike that killed Iran’s most feared military leader. But, during the weekend, Johnson joined with Angela Merkel of Germany and Emmanuel Macron of France to reiterate their commitment to the deal.
“Today, our message is clear: We remain committed to the JCPOA and to preserving it; we urge Iran to reverse all measures inconsistent with the agreement and return to full compliance; we call on Iran to refrain from further violent action or proliferation; and we remain ready to engage with Iran on this agenda in order to preserve the stability of the region,” they said.
Fred Fleitz, a former National Security Council chief of staff under Trump, said persuading Johnson was crucial to getting other allies in line.
“There have been signs for some time that the British realize that the time is up for the nuclear deal because of a series of provocations by the Iranians during the past year, how they’ve been breaking their commitments,” he said.
“The only thing that keeps them in this is that they don’t like the president, that they are liberal elitists, and they don’t want to side with President Trump.”
A senior European diplomat in the Middle East said the preferred method remained using the JCPOA’s dispute resolution mechanism to drag Iran back in line.
“Those in favor of a harder line were not helped by Trump’s comments, which implied any measures taken under the deal would be construed as walking away when actually they would be intended to save the deal and pressure Iran to return to compliance within its mechanisms,” he said.
