How time flies when you’re having fun.  I spent the best part of Wednesday trailing Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran’s foreign minister, around Brussels.  After about four hours it dawned on me that, no matter how strange and disturbing some of his statements, his style is in certain respects remarkably similar to that of a European politician.  That is to say, he repeats his best lines wherever he goes, presumably in the belief that if you say something often enough, in as many different places as possible, at least some people will swallow your message and regurgitate it to others. Read more