World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (November 30, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that President Dmitry Medvedev officially commissioned a new military early warning radar Tuesday, saying it shows Russia’s readiness to respond to U.S. missile defense plans. Medvedev added, however, that the massive radar in the Kaliningrad region could be integrated into a joint NATO-Russia missile shield if a cooperation agreement is reached. Medvedev’s visit to the facility in the Baltic region comes five days ahead of parliamentary elections, in which he leads the main Kremlin party. The muscle-flexing appears to be aimed at bolstering his image as a strong leader capable of protecting national interests. “I hope that our Western partners will perceive this move as the first signal of our country’s readiness to respond in kind to the threats the missile defense system is posing for our strategic nuclear forces,” Medvedev said.

The same information agency reported that government troops fired warning shots in the air Wednesday as thousands rallied to support a presidential candidate whose apparent victory over a Kremlin-backed rival was annulled in the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia. A handful of soldiers that guarded the main government building in the separatist capital of Tskhinvali fired the shots as Alla Dzhioyeva’s supporters approached while chanting her name and “Justice!” Also Wednesday, a sizable South Ossetian community in Moscow called on the separatist government to recognize Dzhioyeva as president. “We consider the actions of the ruling government as a coup attempt,” the community’s head Valery Kabolov told the Ekho Moskvy radio.

The New York Times published the article headlined “Images Show Devastation at Iran Base After Blast.” It says that the large, deadly explosion at an Iran military base in Iran on Nov. 12, which Iranian authorities have called an accident that set back research work there by a few days, appears to have been far more devastating than their description suggested, according to an analysis of newly released commercial satellite images of the blast site. The images reveal vast destruction and chaotic disarray across a sprawling complex composed of more than a dozen buildings and large structures. The Institute for Science and International Security, a private group in Washington, made the satellite images public Monday, along with an analysis of the damage. “It was pretty amazing to see that the entire facility was destroyed,” Paul Brannan, the report’s author, said Tuesday in an interview. “There were only a few buildings left standing.”

“Turkey imposes sanctions on Syria” is an article published by the Turkish information agency Hurriyet Daily News. It says that Turkey will suspend all financial dealings with Syria and freeze Syrian government assets as part of sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad's government, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Wednesday. Davutoğlu also told a news conference that Turkey, once a close friend of Damascus, would block the delivery of all weapons and military equipment to Damascus as part of measures aimed at persuading Assad to end a violent crackdown against pro-democracy protesters. Turkey's move follows in the wake of sanctions announced by the Arab league. Davutoğlu also said a cooperation agreement with Syria was being suspended until there was a new government in place.