What IRI Gained from Capturing the UK Sailors

Potkin's keen observation on the staged-propaganda coup of Ahmadinejad:

Ask an average Iranian, if he or she would like to see an Iran without the mullahs, but instead as a secular democratic country, and most probably he or she would jump with joy and say 'more than anything else'. Ask the same person, if he or she would like to do anything about it and the answer would most probably be "there is nothing we can do, its a waste of time, they are too strong and too shrewd"This image of invincibility has been cultivated carefully by the mullahs for over 28 years now. Islamic Republic's top priority is to make sure the Iranian people become disappointed, hopeless, indifferent and accept the clerical rule as their only alternative.I recall only on three occasions, in the last three decades, when the Islamic Republic's image of invincibility showed visible signs of crack. First time was just before Reagan became president and the mullahs had to release the US hostages in return for absolute zilch! Second time was when the regime was becoming bankrupt as a result of unnecessarily prolonging the war with Iraq, and Khomeini said having to sign the peace treaty was like "drinking a poison chalice". Finally the third occasion, was in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attack, when Islamic Republic was desperately trying to get behind the negotiating table with America and the faithful during the Friday prayers were specifically told, for the first time, not to shout Death to America.I see the way this saga of the captured UK sailors has unfolded as yet another feather in the invincibility arrow of the Islamic Republic. This is the biggest gain for the mullahs from all this affair. Once again they showed the Iranian people that even the major military powers are feeble in confronting the regime, so what chance have the ordinary Iranians got against them?Iranians saw images of the Royal Marine officers, apologizing time and time again for having entered 400 metres into Iranian waters, jumping about and acting like school girls, ruffling each others hair when they heard the news that they are about to be released, and then bending over backwards thanking Ahmadi-Nejad for his hospitality. Iranians saw images of Ahmadi-Nejad telling off a UK sailor, not to cover the camera when he is shaking hands with him, and the Marine, then re-adjusting himself like a scared school boy in front of a headmaster.UK news channels interviewed the mums and dads of these sailors, with mums talking about how much they are looking forward to cuddling and pampering their little boys and telling them off for having been such a naughty boy.Hardly the same image of a military power that stood up for her citizens in the Falkland Islands, thousands of miles away, two decades ago.In today's UK politics, it may be all this political correctness, being apologetic and portraying a soft image that wins the votes, but in Iran and in the Middle East, it is still power and powerful personalities that attract. Of all the articles I have read so far in the UK press, that have tried to weigh the pros and cons of this affair, none seemed to understand how much the Islamic regime has gained from further cultivating its image of invincibility to the Iranian masses and how helpful the undignified demeanour of the British sailors was for this goal.
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