World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (October 6, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that Russia’s intelligence service said Wednesday it has detained an alleged Chinese spy who tried to obtain designs of an advanced missile system as part of Beijing’s efforts to update its weaponry. The Chinese national, who worked as an interpreter for visiting Chinese officials, made attempts to buy documentation for the S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile system, the Federal Security Service said in a statement. He faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted. Prosecutors submitted the case to the Moscow City Court Wednesday, although the man was detained late last October, it said.

The Los Angeles Times published the article headlined “NATO divided on end to Libya air war.” It says that members of the NATO military alliance parted company Wednesday over how quickly to halt the six-month bombing campaign in Libya, and the dangers of doing so if fighters loyal to Moammar Kadafi, the country's deposed strongman, are still engaged in armed resistance. Western and NATO officials said privately that the decision on when to cease the air war has become a source of friction in the alliance even as Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters that "we are close to completing our mission." The dispute centers on whether to suspend the bombing while fierce fighting still is underway for control of Surt, Kadafi's hometown. Regime loyalists are holding out in the coastal city, and NATO warplanes have been hitting ground positions.

The New York Times reported that The families of BBC staff members in Iran say they have been subject to arrest, harassment and intimidation by Iranian officials since the broadcast of a documentary about Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the British broadcaster’s Persian-language service last month. The harassment, reported on the BBC’s Web site on Wednesday, follows the arrests of six filmmakers accused by Iranian authorities of having worked covertly for the broadcaster.

“Russia sets store by boosting Iran ties” is an article published by the Iranian Press TV. It says that  Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, says bolstering bilateral relations with Iran is part of the Kremlin's diplomatic strategy. “Maximum expansion of ties with the Islamic Republic [of Iran] is one of Russia's strategies,” IRIB quoted the official as saying on Wednesday during his weekly news conference in Moscow. He said Iran was a neighbor and friend of Russia and the two countries shared a long history of relations. Lukashevich highlighted Moscow's determination to expend its relations with Tehran and mentioned Russia's assisting the launch of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant in the south of the country.

The Hurriyet Daily News reported that the deal signed between Turkey and the United States on the deployment of an early warning radar system will expire after two years, and Turkey has the right to annul it whenever it wants, according to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. “It is not possible for the system to be activated or convey information to any other country without notifying Turkey,” Davutoğlu said in response to criticism from opposition parties in Parliament on Wednesday. Meanwhile, media in Spain reported that Madrid was planning to join the missile defense system from its naval base at Rota in the south part of the country. Statements on the Spanish government and NATO websites said Spain, NATO and the U.S. would announce an agreement on the development of new capabilities during an upcoming NATO meeting in Brussels, however no details of the agreement were disclosed.