Ex-Iran President: Cameron Fell Into A Trap

David Cameron has fallen into the Iranian regime's trap, the former president of Iran has told Sky News.

In a rare interview with the English speaking media, Abolhassan Bani Sadr claimed that last Tuesday's attack on the British Embassy was deliberately orchestrated by elements of the Iranian government to inflame tensions with the West.

"For (the supreme leader) Ayatollah Khamenei it's profitable to be menaced by war and sanctions, which directly hurt the Iranian people. This sustains the government," he said.

Singling out Britain's Prime Minister for being the first leader to declare sanctions against Iran's Central Bank, Mr Bani Sadr claimed that the West had "fallen into the trap of the Iranian regime".

He added: "For Mr Khamenei, an economically impoverished populace is not a problem. Khamenei is only concerned with staying in power at any cost."

The former president, who now lives in exile in Paris, urged Western governments to support pro-democracy movements within Iran rather than respond punitively to government provocation.

"When the Iranian people don't feel threatened by the outside world, they will then hold their own regime accountable and ask: 'why are we in this state?'" he said.

Mr Bani Sadr was the first president of post-Revolutionary Iran. A French-trained economist and moderate Islamist, he was democratically elected in 1980.

But he quickly fell out with radical elements of the new regime who wanted to augment the power of unelected clerical bodies and arbitrary "evolutionary courts".

A defining crucible of his presidency was the storming of the American embassy and ensuing 444 day hostage crisis in 1979. He tried to secure the release of the 52 diplomats but was ultimately overwhelmed by hardliners who supported the siege.

In 1981 he was impeached and fled to France after many of his allies were executed.

He is now a strident critic of the current regime and has written extensively on how to affect democratic change in his homeland.

In his interview with Sky News, however, he was also critical of the UK's policies toward Iran, lamenting the "series of irrational actions and reactions" by both governments.

Tensions between the UK and Iran have escalated in the wake of an International Atomic Energy Agency's report on Iran's nuclear activities.

The report claimed Iran had conducted activities "relevant to the explosion of a nuclear device". In response, the UK cut off all financial ties with Iranian banks .

The Foreign Office said it wants a negotiated solution with Iran - but insists that "all options should be kept on the table".

But Mr Bani Sadr warned that Iran and the West were already "in state of war" and that "a single action" could spark outright conflict.

"It's the (Iranian) people who will create change in Iran," he said. "If UK, US or Israel bomb Iran's nuclear installations, what will that change? The regime will still be there but the people will be more cowed."