The UK embassy attack crisis could hand hard-liners just the type of Iran-versus-West escalation they have always tried to leverage to their advantage. The outward confidence of the parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, and other officials suggest Iran s Islamic leadership is far from panic mode - and could even have set the showdowns in motion by sending paramilitary loyalists into Tuesday's demonstrations. "All this could not have happened without a green light from the highest level," said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, an Iranian affairs expert at Syracuse University. "There's no doubt that hard-liners will look for ways to strengthen their hand."