World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (October 25, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that Iran is sending its foreign minister to mourn the Saudi crown prince in a possible effort to ease tensions amid allegations that Iranian agents plotted to kill the kingdom’s ambassador in Washington. Iranian state TV says Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi will be among the dignitaries arriving Tuesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh to pay respects to the late Crown Prince Sultan, who died in New York on Saturday. It will be Iran’s highest-level contact with Saudi officials since U.S. authorities alleged earlier this month that a branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was linked to the foiled assassination plot. Iran has dismissed the accusations as baseless. One of the suspects, an Iranian-American man who lived in Texas, pleaded not guilty Monday in New York.

The Los Angeles Times published the article headlined “Turkey rescue workers dig for quake victims.” It says that Officials said at least 279 had been killed and more than 1,000 injured in the latest temblor to strike the earthquake-prone area. Casualty figures were expected to continue to rise because hundreds of people were thought to be trapped in collapsed buildings, including many multistory apartment blocks. Scientists from Turkey's Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute said 1,000 people may have perished given the force of the earthquake and the scale of destruction. The quake, centered in the village of Tabanli, was also felt in nearby Iran and Armenia.

“Turkey turns down foreign offers of aid” is an article published by the Turkish information agency Hurriyet Daily News. it says that Turkey is turning down offers for assistance after the deadly tremor in Van, saying that foreign aid is not currently needed. “I extend my thanks to those presidents who called by phone sharing our sorrow, stating solidarity and offering assistance,” President Abdullah Gül said in a written statement yesterday. Israeli President Shimon Peres and Armenian President Serj Sarkisian were among foreign leaders who spoke on the phone with Gül after the quake offering assistance. Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç yesterday denied allegations that Turkey rejected Israeli government’s appeal to send aid teams due to the sour relations between the two countries.

The Iranian information agency Press TV reported that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again cautioned against enemy plots aimed at regional nations, reiterating that the prime objective of the West-led NATO attacks on Libya was to plunder the resources and assets of the North African country. The West seeks to bring non-revolutionaries and unpopular figures to power in oil-rich Libya, said President Ahmadinejad in an address to an enthusiastic crowd of people in City of Birjand, located in the country's eastern South Khorasan Province on Tuesday. Western powers made efforts to dominate the Libyan people and plunder their assets through a piece of paper, issued by the discredited UN Security Council in the name of a resolution, said the Iranian chief executive, quoted in an IRNA report.