During the years when the West sought to draw Iran back into the comity of nations, the ayatollahs backed terrorist bombs, cyberattacks, and drone shootings.
Johnson, Macron and Merkel don’t agree on everything, but they share a common concern about ISIS now being allowed the space to revive.
For the first time in decades the levers of British influence – defence, diplomacy, aid and trade – could sit alongside domestic efforts in education and infrastructure.
The scale of his domestic ambitions and the legacy of the Iraq War suggest that his ambitions will be limited – for the moment at least.
Talk of more competition can be naïve if the choice simply amounts to either buying from a national monopoly or making an off-the-shelf purchase from the USA.
Leo Varadkar summed it up by saying, “I think it’s a positive thing that we have a decisive outcome in Britain.”
Politicians are so uncomfortable talking seriously about our international role and relationships that instead we constantly engage in proxy battles.
The big prize will be that the UK’s economic and trade freedom will be restored, something May’s backstop would have prevented, potentially indefinitely.
The UK’s role is limited, as we will not and cannot put our own people into this theatre – but we must do what we can.
I’m glad to see we’ve now had the guts to stop a tanker we believe is smuggling Iranian oil in defiance of sanctions on Syria.
Who are you voting for to run the EU Commission? Have you watched the debates and scrutinised their manifestos? Oh, wait.
What he detests is less liberalism than democracy, and the obstacle it poses to Russian foreign policy objectives.
But the Commons has dug in against the Withdrawal Agreement. These immovable obstacles seemingly point in only one direction: a general election.
There may be greater willingness by Brussels to negotiate following populist successes in the European elections.
Some MPs, such as Charlie Elphicke, have been pushing to bring it back not just to bring joy to passengers, but to help revitalise ports and other seaside towns.