World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (June 16, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that Iran launched a satellite into earth orbit on Wednesday in a feat that is likely to raise concerns among those who fear Iran’s intentions and nuclear development program. The locally produced satellite, called Rasad, or observation, was launched successfully by a Safir missile on Wednesday. There was no independent confirmation of the launch or of the satellite achieving orbit. It is the second satellite Iran has put into orbit. The first, named Omid, was launched in 2009.

The same theme is touched on by the New York Times. It wrote that Iran released few details about the satellite. Western experts said it weighed about 100 pounds — meaning that the light payload and the modest rocket carrying it bore little resemblance to an intercontinental missile and its heavy warhead. Still, aerospace experts said the successful launch demonstrated Iranian engineers’ growing skill and contrasted with the repeated failures endured by North Korea in trying to place payloads into orbit. Iranian scientists have long hailed the benefits of earth-observation satellites for tracking floods, fighting fires, gauging earthquake damage, finding evacuation routes and identifying high-risk areas.

The Guardian published an article headlined “Ahmadinejad calls for regional security alliance to  counter US influence.” It says that Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called for a security alliance of several former Soviet nations and China to form a united front against the West. Ahmadinejad's address to heads of state at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Kazakhstan could deepen suspicions that the bloc is intended as a counterbalance to US influence across the region. Much of Ahmadinejad's speech was devoted to an exhaustive series of thinly-veiled accusations against unnamed western countries, which he described as "enslavers, colonialists [and] invaders".

The Turkish information agency Hurriyet reported that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has withdrawn lawsuits he filed against journalists and columnists during the recent election period. Erdoğan drew anger when he filed lawsuits against cartoonists who had drawn pieces critical of him, such as one strip that depicted him as a cat entangled in ball of string. Speaking during his victory speech after the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, won Sunday’s elections, the prime minister said he wanted to make peace with the people he might have offended during the election campaign.

“Iran MP warns of plots against Muslims” is an article published by the Iranian information agency Press TV. It says that a senior member of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) warns of plots hatched by international bullying powers against the Muslim world, urging Muslim states to develop their capabilities in all fields. He pointed to “stable and amicable” ties between Iran and Sudan as two Muslim countries and added that the expansion of relations with Muslim countries is among priorities of Iran's foreign policy, Majlis news agency (ICANA) reported. The senior Iranian lawmaker noted that the political will of the two countries' officials is based on the expansion of ties between Tehran and Khartoum and expressed the parliament's readiness to adopt necessary measures in this regard.