Adam Curtis makes stylish documentaries with interesting ideas that should in no way be taken as accurate accounts of Middle Eastern politics. He essentially fits his reading of events around his arguments, and presents them as alternative interpretations. He also leaves out important context, or strands that don't suit his argument. The most egregious example is Bitter Lake, which is so bereft of insightful analysis as to the current state of Afghanistan as to render it useless.

The primary reasoning behind my dismissal of the Syria-Iran theory for Lockerbie is that there are simply too many moving parts. It's so convoluted that it seems bizarre that the whole thing wouldn't have been blown wide open. Whilst Iran did carry out assassinations abroad, and was most certainly involved in a number of terrorist attacks such as the Beirut barracks bombings and the bombing of the Jewish Centre in Argentina, an operation of this magnitude would have carried extreme risk, at a time when Iran could not afford to behave so.

The Lockerbie bombing came after the end of the Iran-Iraq War, which was incredibly destructive for Iran. Much of its major industry had been destroyed, its economy was struggling, and its population was tired of the war. It was at this time that Iran started to turn towards a more pragmatic foreign policy, focusing on mellowing the revolutionary message and focusing on forging economic ties with neighbours. Additionally, Iran-US relations were at a new low after the exposure of the Iran Contra Affair, which pushed America to be overtly hostile to Iran in order to compensate and win back favour with its Gulf allies. Therefore, for Iran to blow up a US bound passenger plane, at a time in which the US would have every reason to retaliate in response, would be a monumental error of judgement. Equally, as with most conspiracy theories, we analyse events through the lens of their success. However, there would have been no guarantee to any Iranians planning this event, if they were, that the mission would be a success, and that their involvement wouldn't be uncovered.

Finally, in 2003 the Libyan state acknowledged its responsibility in the bombing. This would be a strange move had it actually been the result of Iran-Syria machinations, ESPECIALLY given that Libya had just been named as part of the 'axis of evil' and faced the very immediate threat of a US invasion.