World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (May 26, 2011)

The Washington Post reports that Iran’s nuclear chief on Wednesday rejected the latest report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency alleging that Iran may be working on a nuclear weapons program, saying it was based on “fabricated documents.” The latest questions on Iran were included in restricted report of the International Atomic Energy Agency issued Tuesday for the June 6-10 meeting of the 35-nation IAEA boardA senior official familiar with the report said the most recent intelligence suggested that Iran worked on components of a weapons program as late as 2010.

Meanwhile, the New York Times published the article headlined “Watchdog Finds Evidence That Iran Worked on Nuclear Triggers.” It says that IAEA frustrated by Iran’s refusal to answer questions, revealed for the first time on Tuesday that it possesses evidence that Tehran has conducted work on a highly sophisticated nuclear triggering technology that experts said could be used for only one purpose: setting off a nuclear weapon. Statistics in the report indicated that Iran has begun to recover from the effects of the Stuxnet computer worm, which first struck the country nearly two years ago in an apparent effort to cripple its production of nuclear fuel.

“Azeri rights activists worry over proposed Internet regulation” is an article published by the Turkish information agency Hurriyet. It says that as the Azerbaijani parliament is set to debate new regulations on the Internet seeking to make the act of spreading “misinformation” a “cyber-crime,” rights activists worry the initiative is driven by a desire to restrict web users’ access to online information, EurasiaNet reported on its website. Parliament is expected to discuss the amendments in the autumn. The draft legislation defines “misinformation” as the “distribution of disinformation with the aim of spreading panic among the population, false information about terror.” Emin Huseynov, director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety, expressed concern that the government “would use the broadest possible interpretation of what constitutes misinformation.”

The same agency reported on the developments in Georgia. Two people died in Georgia as riot police end five days of opposition protests aim at ousting Western-backed President Mikheil Saakashvili. The Georgian president dismisses the rallies as ‘masquerades,’ hinting that opposition leaders were doing the work of his enemies in the Kremlin. Burjanadze, who has promised a "revolution", said there would be further demonstrations. "We will not stop. We will do everything to get rid of this government which hates its people."

Iranian Press TV published an article subtitled “'Iran, Egypt can boost ties as NAM troika'.” Iran and Egypt can cooperate on a variety of issues as members of a troika of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the head of Egypt's interests section in Tehran says. He expressed hope that the embassies of the two countries would soon be opened.  This comes as Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and his Egyptian counterpart Nabil al-Arabi met and held talks during the 16th conference of foreign ministers of the NAM on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Salehi said better Iran-Egypt ties would benefit the entire region and called on the two countries to clear any possible misunderstandings.