World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (June 24, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that the Obama administration on Thursday imposed new sanctions against Iran’s largest air carrier, accusing it of aiding government organizations that support international terrorism and nuclear proliferation. The new measures announced by the Treasury Department allege links between Iran Air, the country’s national airline, and illegal weapons shipments to terrorist groups in Syria, and also to the transport of high-tech parts for Iran’s advanced missiles and nuclear programs. U.S. officials said the measures were indirectly aimed at Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, whose leaders are alleged to dominate the country’s illicit trade in weapons parts and technology.

The New York Times published an article headlined “Iran Rift Deepens With Arrest of President’s Ally.” It says that a close ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has been arrested, a development that suggested the power struggle between the president and the country’s highest religious leader is deepening. Mr. Ahmadinejad has been challenged on each of his cabinet appointments, including those of oil minister, sports minister and foreign minister. Mr. Malekzadeh stepped down on Tuesday after only three days, in the face of growing opposition from members of Parliament, who threatened to impeach the foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, if he did not dismiss Mr. Malekzadeh. Political analysts cautioned that the rift was unlikely to devolve into a permanent rupture.

“Russia hosts Karabakh peace talks” is an article published by the Turkish information agency Hurriyet. It is devoted to the Kazan summit of the presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The article says that the start of peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region has left some hopeful that a resolution to the decades-long conflict is near, but a former Armenian official said on Saturday that the problem would not be solved as long as “the Karabakh administration is not included in the talks.” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, one of the mediators of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, will host Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the Volga city of Kazan to discuss a settlement of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani territory occupied by Armenia since 1994.

The Iranian information agency Press TV published an article subtitled “Azeri to attend Tehran anti-terror meet.” It says that an Iranian Foreign Ministry official says Azerbaijan's Minister of National Security, Eldar Mahmudov, is scheduled to visit Iran to attend an international summit on fighting terrorism in the capital Tehran. Mahmudov and an accompanying delegation will travel to Iran to take part in an International Summit on the Global Fight against Terrorism on June 25 and 26, IRNA reported, quoting Abbas Eskandari as saying on Thursday. The Global Fight against Terrorism International Summit aims to facilitate and expand international convergence and cooperation on fighting terrorism. Officials from 80 countries, as well as regional and international organizations, are to take part in the two-day conference in the Iranian capital.