January 30, The Iran Project – Recently, UK has entered into a dangerous game with Iran. On one hand, the Britain is seeking to amend its political and trade relations with Iran, and on the other, is supplying the Arabic countries’ weaponries and closing its relations with Tehran’s regional competitors.

Now the question is will UK receive its desired results from such games with Iran?

History of Iran-UK Relations:

Actually, it is hard to comprehend that whether the UK is the real friend of Iran or not. The history of the UK’s meddling in Iran and its recent interactions with Tehran are considered as clear indication of UK policy in Iran. A policy which is widely unfavorable for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

So far, the Iran and UK relationships have had full of ups and downs. Britain reopened its embassy in Tehran in August 2015 as a sign of improvement of mutual ties between the two countries after hundreds of Iranian students staged a protest outside the embassy in 2011, censuring the expansion of UK sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

On September 2016, Iran and Britain exchanged ambassadors for the first time since 2011 in another sign of warming relations between the two countries.

The ex-UK’s foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, reopened the British embassy in Iran, declaring that there was no limit to what the two countries could achieve, as mutual trust is restored.

"Re-opening the embassy is the logical next step. To build confidence and trust between two great nations,” Hammond said.

"Iran is, and will remain, an important country in a strategically important but volatile region. Maintaining dialogue around the world, even under difficult conditions, is critical."

Saudis Protest

Following the warming of relations between Iran and UK, the Saudi Arabia voiced its protest over Tehran-London amicable ties urging the European country to attach top priority to Riyadh.

The Saudi Arabia is considered as the main market of UK weaponries and this European country is also the main hub for supplying the Saudi Arabian artilleries for bombarding Yemen.

On Dec 17, 2016, the Independent claimed that the UK is secretly selling arms to Saudi Arabia and other countries under an opaque type of export license.

It is worth mentioning that the military and defense industry is a major player in the UK economy, worth about £7.7bn a year.

But many of the countries buying British arms are run by governments with dubious human rights records, even though the destinations of such exports are supposed to meet human rights standards.

On Sept 2016, the British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, defended UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia, saying the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen is not “in clear breach” of international humanitarian law.

In a written statement to parliament, Johnson says: “The key test for our continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia in relation to international humanitarian law is whether those weapons might be used in a commission of a serious breach of international humanitarian law. Having regard to all the information available to us, we assess this test has not been met.”

Meanwhile, the four UK cabinet ministers also  vowed to continue to sell arms to Saudi Arabia in defiance of two parliamentary committees who called for Britain to cease military support for the country.

The ministers said they are "confident in its robust case-by-case assessment" and satisfied that arms sales to Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing rules.

Persian Gulf States Join Protest

In a meantime, other Persian Gulf littoral states also joint Saudi Arabia’s protest against Iran and forced the UK to announce Iranophobia’s remarks and accuse Tehran for madding in other countries’ internal affairs.

Earlier in December 2016 during a conference in Bahrain, UK Prime Minister Theresa May made the remarks regarding Iran being a threat to the region.

Due to location of UK fleet in Persian Gulf, the Britain attaches great importance to expansion of ties with the Persian Gulf littoral countries.

In recent months British officials have sought to boost business ties with Iran - a year on from the lifting of international sanctions - as Britain tries to forge new trade ties following June's vote to leave the European Union.

On Jan 19, 2017, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) has rebuffed efforts by the British government, a major shareholder, to coax the lender into facilitating trade with Iran.

This is while, the US, UK and France will run a war games drill in the Persian Gulf that will simulate a possible confrontation with Iran.

The British Navy will lead the show of force, called exercise Unified Trident. It will be held off the coast of Bahrain from January 31 to February 2.

In the end it should be considered that why two different voiced are hear from UK about Iran? Which sound is more reliable?

Without doubt, the UK double standard would probably hit the Tehran-London fragile relations.