ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN, ervand_abrahamian at baruch.cuny.edu
Abrahamian, who was born in Iran, is a distinguished professor of history at City University of New York. His books include A History of Modern Iran. He said today: “Some sectors of the Iranian government — especially the Revolutionary Guards — would have known about the impending attack on the embassy compound and would have turned a blind eye. This is counterproductive since it further isolates Iran from the rest of the world, including potential allies in the Third World. But the critical question is why is it happening now. As some newspapers have reported, it appears to be a tit-for-tat for the British tightening up on sanctions. But in addition to that, there would be some among the Revolutionary Guards who are convinced that Britain — as well as the U.S. and Israel — have had a hand in recent assassinations of nuclear scientists, sabotage of nuclear installations, and explosions in military bases. Although these events have received little coverage in the West, they have been front-page news in Iran. Since the U.S. and Israel do not have embassies in Iran, the British become the obvious targets.”