World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (October 13, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that the straight-out-of-pulp-fiction plot by alleged Iranian operatives to assassinate a Saudi diplomat in Washington was so badly bungled that investigators initially were skeptical that Iran’s government was behind it, U.S. officials said Wednesday. Officials laying out the details of the case owned up to their early doubts about an Iranian role as they sought to counter skepticism and confusion about the unusual scheme — one that happens to carry far-reaching international consequences. Less than 24 hours after disclosing the disruption of the alleged plot, the Obama administration spent much of Wednesday outlining the evidence, not only to journalists but also to international allies and members of Congress. In briefings and phone calls, U.S. officials sought to explain how Iran’s vaunted Quds Force allegedly ended up enlisting a used-car salesman and a Mexican drug gang in a plan to kill Saudi Arabia’s U.S. ambassador and blow up embassies in Washington and Buenos Aires.

Another article on the same theme published by the same agency is headlined “Alleged assassination plot serves as a warning about Tehran.” It says that perhaps the doubters are right, and it is certainly prudent to reserve final judgment until all the facts of the case are known. But the FBI’s charging documents outline some substantial evidence, including the transfer of $100,000 to a bank account that the suspect arrested in the case, Mansour Arbabsiar, believed belonged to a Mexican cartel member. The FBI also recorded phone conversations between Mr. Arbabsiar and a man in Tehran he identified as an operative of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. As for the Saudi ambassador, Adel al-Jubeir is no diplomatic apparatchik: He is a senior foreign policy adviser to King Abdullah, a key link in what have recently been troubled relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States, and, thanks to Wikileaks, a known advocate of aggressive U.S. action against the Iranian nuclear program. It’s not hard to imagine Quds commanders regarding him as a prime target in what they see as a covert war against both Saudi Arabia and the United States.

The Los Angeles Times continues the topic by the article subtitled “Alleged assassination plot heightens Iran-Saudi tension.” It says that Middle Eastern powers have been battling for preeminence in the Muslim world for decades but the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate a Saudi Arabian ambassador has heightened the tension between them during a time of intense regional upheaval. The new drama has arisen as Saudi Arabia and Iran seek to outmaneuver each other in matters such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the future of Iraq and the bloody political uprisings sweeping much of the region. Their mistrust, fueled in part by sectarian strain, is sharpened by Iran's nuclear development program and Saudi Arabia's long-standing ties to the U.S., Tehran's most potent enemy.

The Turkish information agency Hurriyet Daily News reported that Iran acknowledged as a failure Wednesday its attempt to send a live monkey into space last month -- touted as its first step towards launching a man into space. "The Kavoshgar-5 rocket carrying a capsule with a live animal (a monkey) was launched during Shahrivar," an Iranian calendar month spanning August 23 to September 22, Deputy Science Minister Mohammad Mehdinejad-Nouri was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency. "However, the launch was not publicised as all of its anticipated objectives were not accomplished," Mehdinejad-Nouri told reporters.