According to the France-Presse news agency, Iran today voted for a new parliament in the first nationwide elections since a bitterly contested 2009 poll that returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power, posing a new test of his support among conservatives. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast his ballot with an appeal to all the 48-million strong electorate to also vote to boost "the future, prestige, security and immunity of the country," according to state television. The elections are essentially a struggle between conservatives who back Ahmadinejad and a hardline current that despises him. Each claims superior fealty to Khamenei. While the outcome will not affect Iran's foreign policy -- which is decided by Khamenei -- it was expected to set the political scene for the 2013 presidential election, when Ahmadinejad is to step down after reaching the end of his term limit. The elections, to fill the 290 seats in parliament, were being boycotted by Iran's main opposition and reformist groups, the leaders of which have been under house arrest for the past year.
Also, the same agency reports that Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron called today for the "criminal" Damascus regime to be held to account after almost a year of deadly violence in Syria. "One day, no matter how long it takes, there will be a day of reckoning for this dreadful regime," Cameron said as he joined otherEuropean Union leaders on the second day of a two-day summit.
Turkish information agency Hurriyet Daily news reports that Turkish President Abdullah Gül said on Thursday Russia and Iran would soon realize they had little choice but to join international diplomatic efforts for the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He acknowledged, however, the divisions in the Syrian opposition and its lack of preparedness to take power, saying it must create a structure that embraces all segments of society. Turkey has been in the forefront of fostering the Syrian opposition since abandoning its long-time ally Assad over his violent crackdown on protests. The opposition Syrian National Council meets in Istanbul and the 'Free Syrian Army' operates from Turkish soil on the Syrian border.
Also, The chief of Turkey's gendarmerie forces, Gen. Bekir Kalyoncu, testified as a witness in the "Balyoz" (Sledgehammer) coup case inIstanbul today. It was the first time an active force commander has testified in an ongoing case. Prosecutors allege that suspects in the Sledgehammer case planned to stage attacks on mosques and to stoke tensions with neighboring Greece in order to destabilize the government. They claim the suspects planned the operation in a seminar codenamed "Sledgehammer."
According to the New York Times, Iran-related issues will dominate Obama-Netanyahu talks. On Monday, the two will meet again in the shadow of an American presidential election, and Iran will again dominate the conversation. But the bonhomie will be replaced by wary intrigue as Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Obama try to sort out their differences, in timing, messaging and strategic bottom lines, on how to grapple with Iran — while also managing their own strained relationship.
The same agencee reports that the Syrian Army overwhelmed the main rebel stronghold in the embattled city of Homs on Thursday, setting the stage for its elite soldiers to turn their attention — and superior firepower — to other insurgent redoubts farther north, despite the increasing international pressure for a cease-fire and humanitarian access. A day after the rebel retreat, relief workers were said to be poised to enter the shattered Baba Amr area on Friday to bring badly needed food and medical supplies to civilians. But it was not immediately clear when they would be able to begin the operation.
