[Acrylic-bob]

One of the things which has surprised me over the past few days, while reading about this story, is the fact that in Iran (or Persia, as it used to be known) We British are more hated and reviled than the Americans. The Persians, afflicted with third world paranoia as they are, tend to regard the UK as the single source of all the ills that ail them.

Their dislike and distrust of us apparently dates back to a time when Persia was a buffer state between the British in India and the government of Imperial Russia. It was of course all our fault that the late Shah's father was deposed in the thirties and again all our fault that the late Shah turned out to be such a repressive monster when we restored him to the Peacock Throne. We raped their miserable desert country, stole their oil and refused to say "please" and "thank you". I don't suppose it helps either that we permit our women to go about bareheaded in public and don't wear beards. Sadly, it appears that this sorry state of affairs is not about to be changed by any of the bluster of Tony Bleuuurgh, the United Nations or the EEC; according to Michael Wood the historian, Persians still amaze and astound each other with outraged stories of what a complete and utter sh*t Alexander the Great was. Talk about bearing a grudge!