WE, as a nation, are not renowned for being the best in the world for anything, but in one respect we are top of the league – hypocrisy.

The pictures of the young Iranian woman who was shot during a demonstration in Tehran adorned the pages of our media accompanied by copious column inches of comment.

Of course, the death is a tragedy for her family, friends and all who knew her, but for us to use her to try and make political capital out of it is totally disgraceful.

When we bombed Iraq in 2003, with “shock and awe”, killing thousands in the process, how many dead Iraqis did you see on the pages of our newspapers?

As in Afghanistan, the situation in Iran is primarily ideological. One side wishes to “westernise” their country and the others wish to try and maintain a traditional Islamic state. When will our politicians get it into their thick heads that many of these issues are irreconcilable?

In Afghanistan, the Taliban will be pushed into the hills to fight another day and in Iraq the Shias and Sunnis can hardly wait to engage in a trial of strength. How many more deaths before we keep our noses out of other people’s business?

Hugh Pender, Darlington