It’s okay to make fun of the British sailors who were taken prisoner by a belligerent Iran. Strangely, I don’t consider that funny. But, hey, maybe I just don’t have an evolved sense of humor.

Here are some more jokes that might get the “at least Iran is better than the US” crowd giggling some more.

Maybe the ladies and gentlemen over at Americablog would think that Iran’s jailing, torture, and execution of gay men is funny, too.

“We are here to condemn Iran’s execution and torture of gay men, and to demand international action against the tyrannical Iranian regime” said protest co-organiser Peter Tatchell of the LGBT human rights group OutRage!.

“The international community should issue an ultimatum to Iran: either respect human rights, or face economic sanctions.  There can be no normal relations with an abnormal regime that executes gay people, unchaste women, Muslims who renounce their faith, and political, religious and ethnic minorities.

Perhaps they’ll bust a gut over the jailing of peaceful protesters demanding rights for women in Iran.

A group of Iranian feminist activists were arrested on Sunday outside a court in Tehran where they were peacefully protesting the detainment of four other activists. Thirty-three protestors were arrested after gathering outside the court to show their solidarity with the four women who were facing trial for their activities protesting Iran’s laws that discriminate against women.

‘Cause, you know, that shit is probably pretty funny to one of the enlightened masses at Americablog.

And, let’s be honest, we can all find it funny when an uppity blogger is beaten for reporting on the violent tactics uses by the government against its citizens.

When a bruised Kianoosh Sanjari climbed from the police van last October, he immediately recognised the familiar drab buildings of Evin Prison section 240, run by the plainclothes branch of the Revolutionary Guards.

His crime? Reporting for his weblog on the violent arrest of a religious group by security forces.

In his first interview since being released, Iran’s most prominent blogger recalls the rough tactics used against him by authorities and the backlash against United States support for democracy activists in the Islamic republic.

Funniest of all these great jokes is the arrest and torment of student activists for daring to suggest that their own country needs to change.

“Finally, they blindfolded us and took us to a hall inside the building. They made me sit on a chair. Somebody came and opened my blindfold and showed me a student statement and asked me if I believed in what was said in that text. I said yes. When he left, another one in a commando uniform came in. He beat me hard.

“They only kept me one day in that building, and then I was transferred to Evin Prison and, later, a police detention center for interrogation. In that detention center, they beat me on the soles of the feet with a cable for four continuous days and I was also subject to psychological torture for a month.

“They told us that were would be executed.

“At one stage, I heard the voices of my parents from another room. They were told that I was going to be executed. Then I heard my mother faint and then my father cried and begged them not to kill me.

“I heard them say to my parents: ‘For this bastard, you should not even read Koran after his death.’ I said to God: ‘I am going to be killed for my country’s freedom and for my religion, now my parents cannot even mourn for me.’”

Hilarious stuff, that.

So, Iran acts to provoke Western powers again and Terry Jones takes the opportunity to take shots at American and British governments. Brilliant.

What is terrifying is to try to imagine what precisely Iran thinks it can gain out of this kind of brinksmanship. But, for some, it’s easier to make glib jokes (like this from a comment on Americablog: “My heart goes out to that poor woman—if wearing that scarf doesn’t give her PTSD* I don’t know what would. *Post Traumatic Scarf Disorder") than to accept that the UK and the US are actually on the right side of this particular issue.