Sir Richard Dalton, Former UK Ambassador To Iran, Says The West
Is Pursuing The Wrong Strategy  Posted: Updated: Sir Richard
Dalton Believes Iran's Leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be
strengethened by sanctions | PA  Two of Britain's leading
experts on Iran have criticised the UK's policies towards
engaging with Tehran, painting a bleak picture in terms of
prospects for achieving a solution on the Iranian nuclear
programme.  Sir Richard Dalton, who was UK ambassador to Iran
between 2003 and 2006, told a conference at the International
Institute for Strategic Studies in London (IISS) that the
prospects for dialogue were "extremely poor".  The conference
was organised before an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi
Ambassador in Washington last month, which the US blamed on the
Iranian government, and which has led to America's relations
with Tehran deteriorating further.  Sir Richard told the
conference: "I am an optimist, but those who are optimists find
it hard to sustain that, particularly at the moment. We