World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (June 2, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez mocked U.S. concerns about Venezuela’s ties with Iran on Tuesday, joking that while his adversaries worry about Iranian-made missiles lining his country’s coast his government is actually erecting windmills there. Chavez — an outspoken critic of Washington’s foreign policy — has previously poked fun at fears over Venezuela’s increasingly close relationship with Iran, saying that in a joint bicycle factory the two countries are building the “atomic bicycle.”

The Los Angeles Times published an article headlined “Man pleads guilty to trying to illegally export missile parts to Iran.” It says that an Iranian man living in Woodland Hills (the USA) pleaded guilty Tuesday in plots to illegally export missile components and radio test sets to Iran. He allegedly conspired with Andro Telemi, 40, an Iranian living in the San Fernando Valley, and Syed Majid Mousavi, an Iranian citizen who lived in Iran and ran an import business. Telemi pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Mousavi remains at large and is believed to be in Iran. According to Baniameri's plea agreement, he negotiated the purchase of three Marconi radio kits from an Illinois-based company in 2008 and shipped them to his brother in Dubai, who then shipped them on to Iran. Baniameri alleged that the deal came at Mousavi's request.

The Guardian reports that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is locked in confrontation with MPs after being warned he acted illegally by declaring himself caretaker oil minister in what his critics called an unconstitutional power grab. The parliament voted 165-1 to approve a report by its energy committee, which declared Ahmadinejad's move an "obvious violation of law". Accusations of "perversion", witchcraft and exorcism have been bandied around – as well as more conventional complaints of corruption. To complicate matters further, Iran is also the current chairman of Opec, although Ahmadinejad has said he will not attend its summit in Vienna next week.

The Turkish information agency Hurriyet published an article subtitled “Turkish PM Erdoğan blames opposition for Hopa clashes.” It says that the Turkish prime minister issued harsh criticism Wednesday of the chief of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, accusing him of provoking violence in the country’s northeast. The prime minister blamed the CHP for the clashes that broke out between local police and protesters Tuesday in the northeastern district of Hopa. A 54-year-old protester died from a heart attack during the clashes, reportedly because of the intense tear-gas bombs used by police.

“Iran urges aid in battle against drugs” is an article published by the Iranian information agency Press TV. Officials from Iranian Drug Control Headquarters met with representatives of diplomatic missions from the Mini-Dublin Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on Wednesday in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Iran shares nearly 900 kilometers of mostly mountainous border with Afghanistan, which produces 92 percent of the world's opium, and is thus the main transit route for Afghan narcotics to European countries. According to statistics provided by the United Nations, the Islamic Republic of Iran ranks first in the world in fighting drug trafficking, which accounts for more than 80 percent of the world's opium seizures.