Dominic Raab has to handle a stand-off with Iran and his own civil servants

It’s not an easy time to become Foreign Secretary, as Dominic Raab is about to find out. There is, of course, the crisis in relations with Iran, which threatens to escalate further in the coming days. Raab is taking over shortly after Jeremy Hunt announced a European-led mission to protect shipping in the Gulf, which may not necessarily accord with Boris Johnson’s own foreign policy instincts. One of the reasons that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was able to seize the British-flagged tanker was that Britain had turned down the US’s suggestion of co-operation to protect boats, for fear of appearing too cosy with Donald Trump. Johnson has no such qualms about working with the US President, something Freddy highlighted in his recent Spectator cover piece. There has also been a more general sense that the British government took its eye off the ball because there was no leadership in Theresa May’s final days and Hunt was distracted by the Tory contest.