The White House has accepted Ahmadinejad as Iran's "elected leader". And so, apparently, have the Brits.

In an op-ed in the Telegraph, it emerges that the British ambassador attended his swearing-in ceremony this week - which was boycotted by many Iranian leaders.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that it had dispatched the ambassador because the international community had to keep talking to the Iranian regime about its nuclear programme, so “communication channels have to be kept open”. It had indicated its displeasure at the events of the past two months by witholding the customary letter of congratulation. It calls this “hard-headed diplomacy”.

Well, Ahmadinejad certainly got the message loud and clear: the Brits are cowards who can be kicked around at will. At the ceremony, he had a word or two for them, as well as the US, Germany and France: "No one in Iran is waiting for your messages... The Iranian nation neither values your scowls and threats, nor your smiles and greetings."

I would have loved to have seen the British Ambassador's face as Ahmadinejad came out with this (to the crowd's cheers), but he probably just turned the other cheek.