World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (December 15, 2011)

The Washington Post reported that The House on Wednesday endorsed harsher sanctions on Iran as it seeks to weaken Tehran economically and derail its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The overwhelming votes of 410-11 and 418-2 were largely symbolic, however, as the Senate was not expected to act on the legislation in the few remaining days of the congressional session. Separately, Congress was poised to back a sweeping defense bill that already included crippling sanctions on foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran’s Central Bank, a provision that the Senate backed unanimously last week. Determined to show their hawkish stand on Iran and pro-Israel credentials, House lawmakers voted for two bills that would strengthen current sanctions while expanding the list of companies and individuals subject to penalties.

The same agency published the article headlined “Iraq’s Shiites in no mood to embrace Iran.” It says that When a senior Iranian cleric announced last month that he was planning to move to this holy Shiite city to open an office, the furor that erupted offered a glimpse into the future of a complicated relationship. As American troops leave Iraq, Iran certainly ranks high among the beneficiaries of their nearly nine-year presence. As a Shiite power that suffered enormously during an eight-year war with a Sunni-dominated Iraq in the 1980s, Iran now can generally count on closer ties with a friendly Shiite government next door. But the biggest winners of all have been Iraqi Shiites, whose ascent to power reversed nearly 1,400 years of sometimes brutal Sunni domination. And although Iraqi Shiites broadly welcome the departure of the Americans, they seem in no mood to substitute one form of foreign domination for another — and least of all, they say, from Iran.

The Los Angeles Times reported that The U.S. military mission in Iraq formally ended Thursday in a small ceremony at Baghdad airport as the last U.S. troops prepared to leave the country after nearly nine years of war, billions of dollars spent and nearly 4,500 lives lost. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and other top civilian and military officials flew in to Baghdad to mark the formal end of the U.S. military effort, one of most divisive wars in American history. Instead of addressing the deep questions about the war, Panetta paid tribute to U.S. troops, arguing that the combat losses and the enormous expenditure of resources since 2003 had not been wasted.

“Assad has weeks left: Israel” is an article published by Hurriyet. It says President Bashar al-Assad's downfall won't take months but weeks, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said, according to the Washington Post. He was on his way to Washington to meet with U.S. officials, including the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, when he spoke to the Washington Post over the phone. "Basically it's inevitable," Barak was quoted saying. "It might take many weeks, but it's not a matter of months or years."  The Israeli defense minister also spoke on the impact al-Assad's fall would have on Israel's enemies in the region, namely the Islamists in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, as well as Iran.