More4 News Blog

Backdoor diplomacy in Tehran, Baghdad and London

Jon Snow thinks back to his visit to Tehran in March. He had a meeting with a mysterious 'Mr Jafri', a man incredibly high up in the National Security Council, the second highest office in the land.

This mysterious gentlemen seemed to be offering something of an olive branch to the US, or at least a chance to discuss how deal with the increasing strife between Shias and Sunnis in Iraq.

History doesn't relate what happened the offer at that date. But Jon Snow learns that Mr Jafri is in London. Are there some back door negotiations going on? About Lebanon, Iraq, or both?

And what would happen if they tried front door negotiations?

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Why Bush should have allowed Blair to talk to the enemy

Concentrating on the 'Yo, Blair' has meant most people have missed the far more significant 'No, Blair', says Jon Snow in this week's Snowmail.

Behind George Bush and Tony Blair's matey joshing at the G8 summit was a very real offer to talk to the powers involved. Bush rejected the offer instead choosing more publicly to ostracise those behind Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.

But while the UK spends £20m of taxpayers money maintaining relations with Iran and Syria, the US spends nothing on diplomatic relations with Iran beyond a servicing charge to the Swiss for handling consular matters - and merely maintains a charge d'affaires in Damascus.

Britain is exceptionally placed to talk to the enemy.

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The Foreign Office and the mystery of the missing transcript

When Jon Snow interviewed Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, on our sister programme Channel 4 News earlier this week it caused a small tremor.

Beckett declared she was unhappy that a consignment of US bunker busting bombs destined for Israel were shipped through a British airport apparently without permission.

The interview featured prominently in the programme and was picked up the following morning by The Times, The Sun, the Daily Mail, The Guardian, the Daily Telegraph and the Today Programme among others.

Strange then that an edited transcript of that very interview posted on the Foreign and Commonwealth website was published sans the most newsworthy sound-bites.

So, in the spirit of co-operation and with an awareness of the dangers of RSI from too much transcribing we offer the following - missing - exchange:

JON SNOW: Foreign Secretary, are you happy to discover that bombs and rockets and missiles are being sent through Prestwick Airport from the United States to Israel?

MARGARET BECKETT: No I'm not happy about it, not least because it appears that insofar as there are procedures for handling that kind of hazardous cargo - irrespective of what they are - it does appear that they were not followed. I've already let the United States know that this is an issue that appears to be seriously at fault, that we will be making a formal protest if it appears that that is what has happened. We're still looking into the facts but I have already notified the United States that we are not happy about it.

CTRL C then CTRL V and it's all yours...

Email headers ranged from 'thank-you' to 'shameful', from 'arsehole' to 'anti-semite'

Jon Snow: In the last eight days, having interviewed both the Israelis and Hamas on Channel 4 News over the Gaza crisis, my inbox transformed into a Middle East war zone.

The headers ranged from 'thank-you' to 'shameful', from 'arsehole' to 'anti-semite' and from 'criminal' to 'Christain'. Many of the most abusive actually included their whole postal addresses. They ranged from California to Cairo, from Java to Gateshead from Manchester to Morrocco.

Many were formulaic, using similar phrase construction. But more were specifically abusive suggesting my mother should rot in hell among other things.

Naturally, I responded...

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The US and the geopolitics of oil

Jon Snow: A new book out this week by a former aid to President Nixon argues that America's oil difficulties have already thrown the US into decline.

In 'American Theoracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil and Borrowed Money', Kevin Phillips claims that effectively America has peaked - that the Iraq adventure has hastened it, and that the world economy will pay dearly for America's consequent oil insecurity, massive debts and gathering introspection.

Perhaps this is why Mexico's vote is suddenly so unexpectedly interesting...

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A conversation with British Muslims

Jon Snow: The invitation dropped into my inbox without fanfare. I didn't know its author, it was informal and it simply asked if I would meet a group of young Muslims one evening in London...

So it was I found myself drawing up outside a nondescript building. Two young men materialised and ushered me and my bicycle inside. It was immediately clear that one of the young men was a mullah and the building was a religious house with a small mosque below stairs.

I was shown into a brightly lit room. On the tables were bottles of water, small packets of M&Ms and large plates of very English scones....

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Why I'm supporting Iran in the World Cup

Jon Snow: This week football, but not as we know it. My more conventional Snowmail missives contained news last Friday that I was supporting Iran in the World Cup.

Watching Iran's performance in a qualifier while in Tehran had given me heart. The World Cup is one arena where one really could indulge in fantasy football.

I allowed my imagination to run rampant. President Ahmadinejad flying to the finals in Germany for the finals against, say, England and Tony Blair shaking the nuclear hand that might bite him...

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Podcast: From Isfahan to the Internet

Jon Snow broadcasts from the ancient Persian capital, and finds that the bloggers got there first. Listen to the podcast

What a country! Look at this place for a start. Where are we? The sumptuous centre of Persian Islamic art a few miles from... the far less sumptuous rather more contentious centre of Natanz, where nuclear enrichment continues somewhere under the mountains marked only by stacks of excavated earth, a few low-lying buildings, watchtowers and anti-aircraft batteries.

Yet it feels a million miles from here as does the amazingly ill-tempered row between America and Iran. Funny old world...

Podcast: Chasing Larijani

Jon Snow tells the behind the scenes - seat of your pants - story of our exclusive, live interview with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani.

You can listen to the audio here or subscribe to our podcast guaranteeing you get to hear subsequent broadcasts.

This post first appeared on Channel4's News from Iran blog.