World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (July 5, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that Iran’s latest war games have featured the predictable blaze of missile tests and an unexpected peek at underground launch silos. There’s one bit of military showmanship, though, that ties it all together: Promoting the Made in Iran label. Boasting about homegrown defense technology is growing louder as Iran claims U.N. sanctions cannot blunt efforts to keep pace with America’s Gulf allies — led by Saudi Arabia — that are awash in Pentagon weaponry and taking an increasingly tough line against Tehran.

The New York Times published the article headlined “Iran: Rights Lawyer Is Sentenced.” It says that a prominent rights lawyer was sentenced to nine years in prison and barred from working as a lawyer for 10 years after he was convicted of seeking to overthrow the ruling system, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported Monday. The lawyer, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a founder along with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, represented activists and opposition supporters arrested after the disputed 2009 presidential election. He said he would appeal.

The Guardian published the article devoted to the Iranian film A Separation. The author wrote that yet much Iranian cinema functions as such, for it has had to negotiate with censorship throughout its existence and develop a rich culture that relies on symbolism. Saying one thing and meaning another is an old tradition in the Persian arts. So when the deservedly celebrated Iranian film A Separation is reviewed by predominantly western critics, the symbolism at work in this drama will barely be glimpsed. The personal has never been so politicized as in contemporary Iran. State interference in the daily lives of Iranians is noted and commented on by many artists, but Farhadi's commentary is particularly authentic and incisive.

The Turkish information agency Hurriyet Daily News reported that Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu takes an unplanned detour during his trip to Libya, joining the masses gathered in protest of Gadhafi’s rule. The foreign minister was referring to Libya’s legendary opposition figure, Omar Mukhtar, who organized and led the domestic resistance to Italy’s colonization of Libya, which began in 1912, for nearly 20 years. Davutoğlu’s trip to Benghazi came at very short notice and after the Foreign Ministry had received special authorization from NATO due to a flight ban imposed by the United Nations on the country.

“Iran denies US claim over arms funding” is an article published by the Iranian information agency Press TV. It says that Iran's Foreign Ministry has rejected US allegations that Iran sends arms to Afghan and Iraqi militants, describing the allegation as a blame game tactic. “The accusations that the US levels against Iran's Islamic Revolution's Guard Corps (IRGC) are a big lie,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. He said that Western countries are under pressure from the public to pull out their forces from the region since their nations can no longer pay for their policies. Mehmanparast called for the immediate withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and said their pullout would improve the region's security.