British Foreign Policy Towards The I.R. Iran With Special Reference To The Two Main British Governing Parties: 2000-2015
However, once, the late Conservative prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli said, “governments find most of their legislation in the pigeon-holes of their predecessor.”27 This is precisely the case as regards to foreign policy ideology under the Conservatives. As was discussed, earlier on, in the article, the British Labour party leaders, in respect to foreign policy, have very little disagreement with the British Conservative party leaders. Both parties’ foreign policy ideologies, as was demonstrated in this article, are solidly based on shrewd economic considerations being aimed at retaining Britain’s trading and financial role to safeguard British interests. A positively Churchillian move needless to say, which was seen in this article. Although, the Conservative party came to Office in the summer of 2010, (with a minimum majority in the Parliament, which, had to come into a coalition with the Liberal-Democrats), after being out of power for more than a decade, nonetheless, all British parties, whether in Office, or out of Office have very little disagreement with each other over protecting British interests, or to put it in a different word, ‘foreign policy’. If, however, they do seem to quarrel in the Parliament over a foreign policy issue which may even lead to the registration of a few ministerial cabinet posts, as was the case of the Iraqi war of 2003, it is purely due to the nature of internal British political system, which is out of this article’s area of interest and not the issue in question. As was seen eventually, the ‘high politics’ of foreign policy prevailed, and the British Labour government walked behind the United States, in the context of the Anglo-American Special Relation, as a junior partner, to attack Iraq. Britain sees its foreign policy in the last resort, as was discussed in the work, to co-operate with America. And this could not be more true, when it comes to British Conservative party’s foreign policy, while out of Office, now in government, towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, since the summer of 2010 on.
While out of Office, until, 2010, the Conservative party, over foreign policy issues, towards the Islamic Republic of Iran was supportive, and in complete consensus with the Labour administration of both Tony Blair, and Gordon Brown. Whether, when Labour was on a cordial, and decorum term trade, opening up relations, and mediation with the Islamic Republic of Iran, or when it overtly eventually, over the nuclear issue moved towards the United States position, in the context of the Anglo-American Special Relationship, which incidentally, is even more, anyhow, amenable to the Conservative taste of foreign policy as it were, since the Conservative themselves were the innovator and are advocators of such course of foreign policy, which was described in this article, on both occasions, the two main British governing parties were supportive of one another’s foreign policies, towards the Islamic Republic of Iran. This now applied to the new predicament. The Labour party was out of power, in opposition, but supportive of the Conservative government’s policies towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was, mainly the nuclear policy, as it was the only major issue, since the Conservatives took Office, which was under a year. Therefore, it could be said that, Benjamin Disraeli, the British Conservative prime minister was correct, in his saying ‘new governments find their policies in the pigeon-holes of their predecessors’. Of course, there were a host of issues between the UK, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which brought the relation between the two countries to its lowest diplomatic level. Such as British interference in the internal affairs of Iran, which was one of the biggest issues along with the nuclear issue and many other unsolved problems. But, as was touched on before, whether Labour is in power or the Conservative, there is a continuation of policies in British overseas relations towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, which have been illustrated in this article, on various fronts.
