by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 8 November 2022 The UK armed the Shah’s “autocracy” and directly aided his brutal security service in the decades leading up to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, declassified files show. “Iran is an autocracy and all power flows from the Shah”, the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) wrote in an internal […]
Topic: Iran
By Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 23 June 2021 Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) is about to establish a second fighter squadron with Qatar, an authoritarian Gulf state accused of supporting extremist groups across the Middle East which the UK itself opposes and says promote terrorism. UK/Qatar squadron will be established in September in Yorkshire, northern […]
by Mark Curtis Declassified UK, 11 March 2020 Britain’s national press is acting largely as a platform for the views of the UK military and intelligence establishment, new statistical research by Declassified UK shows. The UK press, from The Times to The Guardian, is also routinely helping to demonise states identified by the British government as enemies, while tending to […]
by Mark Curtis Declassified UK, 9 March 2020 Britain’s national press consistently portrays Britain as a supporter of noble objectives such as human rights and democracy. The extraordinary extent to which the public is being misinformed about the UK’s foreign and military policies is revealed in new statistical research by Declassified UK. The research suggests […]
By Mark Curtis and Phil Miller Declassified UK, 21 January 2020 Britain supported Iran’s new Islamic regime in crushing the last remaining opposition to its rule in 1983 while the UK’s leading official in the country joked about Iran’s torture techniques, declassified files reveal. The UK’s secret intelligence service, MI6, worked with the CIA to […]
by Mark Curtis Published in Middle East Eye, 25 June 2019 The contest to become the leader of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party, and the country’s next prime minister, has failed so far to involve media scrutiny of the candidates’ views on British foreign policy. With the focus on Brexit and media attention on the personal life of Boris […]
by Mark Curtis Published in Middle East Eye, 31 May 2019 The British government is refusing to release a 1941 file on Palestine, as it might “undermine the security” of Britain and its citizens. Why would a 78-year-old document be seen as so sensitive in 2019? One plausible reason is that it could embarrass the British government in […]
by Mark Curtis Published in Middle East Eye, 31 January 2019 Forty years ago this month, the Iranian revolution sent a shockwave through the Middle East, overthrowing the Western client, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and bringing to power the Islamic regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. While Iran now poses the biggest challenge to Western power […]
Article published in Middle East Eye, 2 March 2018 by Mark Curtis Government policies are meant to promote the national interest but the upcoming visit to the UK of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman highlights something quite different – Whitehall’s pursuit of a special relationship that endangers the British public. Theresa May says the […]
“Country assessment sheet: Iran” “Iran is basically pro-Western and is rapidly approaching major economic and political status in the world”. Iran provided 19% of UK oil supplies in 1973. “In addition British oil companies earn substantial amounts of foreign exchange from oil obtained from Iran. BP have an arrangement whereby they can pick up 20% […]