In fact British officials were much closer to the high level power struggle at the top levels of the Islamic regime between Mr Ahmadinejad, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ali Larijani, the speaker of parliament.
“We always believed that Ahmadinejad had won the election but that the result was exaggerated. The embarrassing thing for Britain would be to have the depth of our contacts within the factions trying to oust Ahmadinejad exposed. The embassy in Tehran did place its bets on other side winning in Tehran,” the official said.
It is believed the strong British role played during the infighting in Tehran prompted the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to issue a strong denunciation of “evil” British policy in Tehran during a high profile speech in June 2009, when he declared the election was over.
The Foreign Office has always maintained the accusations of interference were unwarranted.
