In an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Dr Alireza Koohkan pointed to the warning to the United Kingdom by the US Vice President Mike Pence on cooperation with Huawei and said: “The British are well aware that the quality and price of the technology Huawei is providing is in a way that so far no company in the world has been able to compete with it, and apart from its impact on communications, this technology has been changing significant segments of the social life, and perhaps its faster entry into any society can help it move ahead of other societies in this regard.

Huawei Breaks up US Monopoly on Communications Infrastructure

The American affairs analyst said other countries in the European Union have voiced a desire to cooperate with Huawei, adding: “The Americans have voiced opposition to this issue because if Huawei manages to do this and advance this in the contracts it has, the US monopoly on access to communications infrastructure in the world would be called into question.

He also referred to President Donald Trump’s warning to the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that if London agrees with the participation of the Chinese firm, Huawei, in the fifth generation Internet launch project, the two countries’ course in the field of national security will be separated, saying, “From the US point of view, the activities of Chinese companies in this field can have a special impact on security areas.

Turning to the proposal of US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that if the British side withdrew from cooperation with Huawei, there would be considerable trade deals between the two countries, Koohkan said: “British-Chinese cooperation seems to have a political dimension besides the economic one. Contrary to policymakers and politicians in many countries around the world, British politicians are more professional and more experienced, and some of them work as permanent deputy ministers in the UK deep state.

Trump’s Behavior Reason for Choosing Multilateralism in Britain

He added: “Mr Trump’s pre-Brexit behaviour and the type of cooperation he had with former British Prime Minister Theresa May and some of the statements he made showed although the UK’s departure from European Union was a priority for him to weaken the EU, he is reluctant to make any concessions to Britain like the rest of the world and will not have such an intention.

The international relations professor emphasized that the British appear to have included in their agenda multilateralism and expanding members in their foreign relations portfolio, adding the decision could even be effective in gaining more concessions from Trump, and they can bring up the level of this cooperation and having or not having monopoly in the communication infrastructure to the United States as a bargaining chip and position in the talks and get concessions.

Referring to the green light the British security officials have given to Huawei, he said: “Americans understand that British politicians are not like the short-lived statesmen around us and that they behave professionally.”

UK-US Numerous Futile Negotiations

Touching on some assessments and expectations regarding closer US-Britain relations after Brexit and during Boris Johnson’s era, he added: “Before Mr Johnson’s coming to office, Britain was also very hopeful that the Americans would be willing to give numerous concessions to Britain with respect to their welcoming of Brexit but the numerous visits and the very friendly talks and negotiations the British had almost none bore fruit. It seems that the two sides have well used this point that the policy of exchanging resources is based on the amount of power rather than the permanent realm of friendship and hostility.

The university professor noted: “Although Mr Johnson is assessed to be like Trump in many ways, he may be also similar to Trump in this aspect that he has never been bound to any friendship in the field of US domestic or foreign policy.

UK-US Strategic Relations Remain Unchanged

While emphasizing that there will be no change in the level of strategic relations between the United Kingdom and the United States and that their cooperation will continue, Koohkan said,

“At the level of differences and problems that occur in the routine relations, they would handle the case through management; for instance, there was widespread commotion in the two countries’ relations as regards the travel of a person to the United Kingdom with US diplomatic passport, and eventually the Americans refused to cooperate with the British, and they also issued significant threats. Issues of this nature will not hurt the strategic alliance of the United States and Britain.

He continued: “It should not be forgotten that when economic disagreements between Europe and China on the one hand and the United States on the other hit the highest point, Chinese prime minister in a visit to Europe suggested to Britain to be more united versus policies announced by Mr Trump. It was interesting that both continental countries in the European Union and the United Kingdom received the proposal separately, and they all unanimously rejected it.

The British declared that their relationship was strategic and that they could not unite with China against the United States. This understanding has been formed after years of long-standing relations between the two parties, and these differences do not damage this strategic alliance.