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The leaders of the coalition are now ignoring allegations of fraud and corruption that they have not tolerated elsewhere

In June, amid widespread claims of vote-rigging and ballot-stuffing, the leaders of western nations were united and outspoken in their condemnation of the Iranian presidential election results. Referring to Tehran's ruling regime, Gordon Brown said that questions "have got to be answered".

In the United States, Vice-President Joe Biden waited less than 48 hours after the 12 June election to state that "there's some real doubt" over whether Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been legitimately re-elected president of Iran.

So why the silence from these same leaders in the wake of deeply flawed, possibly fraudulent, presidential elections in...