Simon Massey, right, and Kaye Turney, the only woman amongst the 15 British service personnel released by Iran, smile after arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport, Thursday April 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Tim Ockenden-pa)
What really led to the resolving of the Iran-Britain hostage crisis?
We would have enough of it in the coming days. But the first story that comes out (from Associated Press) is that Syria played a crucial role in ending the Britain’s standoff with Iran.
Indeed strange are the ways of diplomacy. While the West had been branding Iran and Syria as the most dangerous ‘terrorist’ states, the two have managed to take the sting out of their detractors’ allegations by this latest development.
“ ‘Syrian efforts and the Iranian willingness culminated with the release of the British sailors,’ said Syria’s Information Minister Mohsen Bilal, reports Associated Press.
“He said Syria had been asked ‘to help positively in the issue of British’ crew members since their March 23 seizure by Iran in the Persian Gulf. He did not elaborate.
“Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told reporters that ‘Syria exercised a sort of quiet diplomacy to solve this problem and encourage dialogue’ between Britain and Iran.
“Al-Moallem, who also did not give any details on the Syrian mediation, spoke at Damascus international airport before the departure of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for Saudi Arabia.”
One may also wonder what role Nancy Pelosi played in resolving this crisis?
Here’s the detailed Reuters report: “The 15 British military personnel freed by Iran after a two-week diplomatic stand-off arrived back in England on Thursday to cheers and to questions about the incident and its implications…”
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.