World Press on Iran, Turkey and Caucasus (September 10-12, 2011)

The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Iran has agreed to more nuclear cooperation with Russia. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said important agreements were signed by both sides in the nuclear and other fields. Salehi spoke after meeting with visiting Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko. Salehi did not elaborate. Currently there are no plans for Russia to help build another plant.

However, on Monday the Iranian information agency Press TV reported that Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko says no new agreement has been signed with Iranian officials to develop nuclear power plant projects in the country. He added that the protocol for the 9th session of the Iran-Russia Joint Commission was signed by Tehran and Moscow, which includes a variety of issues such as nuclear energy.

“Iranian mogul at center of ‘unprecedented’ bank fraud claims” is an article published by The Washington Post on Monday. It says that Iranian regulators have blocked the assets of a mega-tycoon accused of masterminding a $2.6 billion bank fraud, described as the biggest financial corruption scam in Iran’s history. The probe could also spill over into Iran’s internal power struggles between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the ruling clerics. The suspect — identified by the hard-line Kayhan newspaper as billionaire mogul Amir-Mansour Aria — is seen as linked to the so-called “deviant current” of Ahmadinejad allies, who are facing arrests and crackdowns by Iran’s leadership.

The same agency reported that British Prime Minister David Cameron insisted on Monday that Russia and Britain can overcome the sharp differences in their relations — even the 2006 poisoning death of a Kremlin critic in London — to seal new trade ties and help promote world stability in the wake of the Arab uprisings. Cameron was in Moscow for the first visit to Russia’s capital by a British leader in six years, meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev, and holding the first talks by any British official with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in more than four years.

The Los Angeles Times published an article headlined “Heartbreak in Russia as thousands mourn victims.” It says mourners including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin poured into the team's arena to lay flowers near coffins containing the remains of players and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team. Many were draped in the team's red, white and blue colors. The crash shocked Russia and the entire hockey community, but emotions were especially raw in Yaroslavl, where the team's consistently strong performance in the Continental Hockey League was a source of great pride. The team had been heading to Minsk, Belarus, to play its opening game of the CHL season.

The Turkish information agency Hurriyet reported that Turkey's prime minister has said Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last year was "cause for war" but that his country showed "patience" and refrained from taking any action. Erdoğan said "It is a cause for war, but we decided to act in line with Turkey's grandeur and showed patience." Israel insists its naval commandos acted in self-defense after being attacked by some of the activists. A U.N. report into the raid said Israel's naval blockade was legitimate but that it used "excessive and unreasonable" force.

“Iran's first nuclear plant operational” is an article published by Press TV. It says that Iran has officially launched the Bushehr nuclear power plant, ending the countdown for the inauguration of the first atomic plant in the country. The ceremony was attended by Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) chief Fereydoun Abbasi, Iran's Energy Minister Majid Namjou, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and Sergei Kiriyenko, the chief of Russia's state-owned atomic energy corporation, Rosatom.