Iranian president Ahmadinejad did just announce that the Brits will be released today. As some of us predicted, the quid pro quo included concessions by the United States—we know that Iranian officials will now be allowed to visit the five Iranian “diplomats” detained by the United States in Iraq for supporting the insurgency.
What we haven’t seen yet—but it probably won’t be long—are the details of the promises Iran extracted concerning its territorial integrity. Iran knows that as it races towards nuclear breakout, it is getting very close to a military confrontation with the United States. Getting the British to agree to back down from the nuclear standoff—and getting them to promise not to allow the U.S. to use the airbase at Diego Garcia—would be an enormous victory for the Mullahs. And it shouldn’t be long before they start bragging about it.