The Washington Post published an article headlined 'Oil prices climb as Iran tensions escalate'. It says that oil prices are climbing again, as demonstrations in Iran add to concerns that anti-government movements will keep pressure on the oil-rich Middle East for months to come. Oil prices surged 13 percent last week, as Libyan protesters expanded their control over the country. While the Libyan uprising continued on Tuesday, the Iranian authorities imprisoned opposition leaders in Tehran. Tensions are escalating in the OPEC heavyweight as groups challenge the ruling government.
“Iran uses tear gas to disperse protesters” is reported by the Washington Post today. Witnesses and opposition websites say police in Tehran have used tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters demanding the release of opposition leaders. Family members and opposition activists say the two leaders have moved from house arrest to a Tehran prison along with their wives. The Iranian authorities deny the reports.
The New York Times reported that Russia on Monday explained why fuel is being removed from a nuclear reactor in Iran, delaying plans to start up the giant plant this month. The Russian account, the first official rationale, came after experts last week offered theories for the failure, ranging from a start-up glitch to foul play. In a statement, Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom, which is building the reactor at Bushehr in Iran, said it had found damage to one of the reactor’s four main cooling pumps. That breakdown, it said, necessitated the removal of the fuel core and an inspection of the reactor and its fuel assemblies, to make sure they harbored no metal particles or chips. Detection of metal shards would prompt a thorough cleaning and, according to one official, a startup delay of up to two months.
The Guardian touched on the death of the influential Turkish Islamist politician Necmettin Erbakan. It says that at the time of his death, aged 84, Erbakan was what he had been at the outset of his political career in the late 1960s, the leader of a small, conservative, anti-western political party backed by a small percentage of voters. But he, more than anyone else, created the conditions that enabled the ruling moderate Islamist Justice and Development party (AKP) to win and hold on to power. Yet he did not share in the eventual triumph of Turkish Islamism, having been displaced by younger, more modern leaders.
The Turkish information agency Hurriyet published an article subtitled “Turkish prime minister's fiery rhetoric may burn EU hopes.” The author reports that Turkey’s tough language toward the European Union, seen as a way for the government to rally domestic political support, may also erode public confidence in the idea of joining the bloc. Commenting on Turkey’s stalled bid for EU membership, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in Germany over the weekend that the European bloc was becoming a Christian union, not an alliance of civilizations. Erdoğan had planned to make a one-day visit Tuesday to the EU Commission, but the trip was postponed for the prime minister to attend the funeral in Istanbul of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, who died Sunday.
