Iran and Its Fraying Ties with the West

Air Date: December 6, 2011

Hour 2

An Iranian holding an anti-British placard kicks burning flags during a demonstration in front of British embassy in Tehran last week. Photograph: Javad Moghimi/AP

The British Embassy in Iran was stormed last week by angry hordes of what were alternately described as “students” and “basiji,” or thugs on the payroll of the Iranian regime. That prompted England to pull its diplomats from Iran and Iran to follow suit, further fraying ties between the Shiite theocracy and the West. And that followed increased sanctions against Iran that followed a November 8th report by the International Atomic Energy Agency that detailed, for the first time, Iran’s alleged secret work specifically on nuclear weapons. Joining us to discuss recent developments in Iran and in its relations with its neighbors and the United States is Ambassador JOHN LIMBERT, a former U.S. diplomat who was among the 52 American hostages taken the last time a Western embassy was overrun in Tehran, in 1979 through 1981. We’ll also hear from KAVEH EHSANI, assistant professor of international studies at DePaul University.

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