Last week in Washington, George W. Bush, US president, and Tony Blair, UK prime minister, engaged in their familiar bluster about “isolating” Iran and Syria if they do not accede to US wishes in the Middle East. This line today is utterly senseless. Iran is in a stronger position than the US – and Iran knows it.

The condition for Iranian help on Iraq set by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad – that of US withdrawal – is something the US must fulfil sooner or later with or without Tehran’s agreement. US conditions for talks with Iran, by contrast, are unacceptable to the Iranian establishment and most of the Iranian population.