World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (October 12, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that Iran’s top leader said Wednesday that the wave of protests spreading from New York’s Wall Street to other U.S. cities reflects a serious crisis that will ultimately topple capitalism in America. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the United States is now in a full-blown crisis because its “corrupt foundation has been exposed to the American people.” Khamenei made the remarks during a rally Wednesday in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah that drew tens of thousands of people. His speech was broadcast live on state TV. The Occupy Wall Street movement started in New York City last month and is spreading to other parts of the country. The loosely affiliated movement is peacefully protesting the power of the financial and political sectors.

The same information agency published the article headlined “Iran behind alleged terrorist plot, U.S. says.”  U.S. officials on Tuesday accused elements of the Iranian government of plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, allegations that aggravated the tense relationship between the United States and the Islamic Republic. The Justice Department unsealed charges against two Iranians — one of them a U.S. citizen — accusing them of orchestrating an elaborate murder-for-hire plot that targeted Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi envoy to Washington and a key adviser to King Abdullah. The Iranians planned to employ Mexican drug traffickers to kill Jubeir with a bomb as he ate at a restaurant, U.S. officials said. In addition to Jubeir, officials said, the plot envisioned later striking other targets in the United States and abroad, including a Saudi embassy, though those plans appeared preliminary at best.

The Turkish information agency Hurriyet Daily News reported that a key aide to Iran's supreme leader said on Saturday Turkey must radically rethink its policies on Syria, the NATO missile shield and promoting Muslim secularism in the Arab world - or face trouble from its own people and neighbours. In an interview with the semi-official Mehr news agency, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's military adviser described Prime Minister Tayyip ErdoĞan's invitation to Arab countries to adopt Turkish-style democracy as "unexpected and unimaginable". Turkey and Iran, the Middle East's two major non-Arab Muslim states, are vying for influence in the Arab world as it goes through the biggest shake-up since the Ottoman Empire fell, a rivalry that has strained their previously close relations.

“Iran summons Swiss envoy” is an article published by the Iranian agency Press TV. It says that Iran's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Swiss envoy to protest US allegations of Tehran's involvement in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington. During the meeting, head of the North America Bureau of the Iranian Foreign Ministry said since the victory of the Islamic Revolution Iran has been among the main victims of the terrorist activities of terrorist groups sponsored by the United States. The Swiss Embassy in Tehran also functions as the United States interest section.