According to the Los Angeles Times, Turkey, once friendly to Syria, Iran and Iraq, has seen its relations with all three tested as it has tried to stop the violence in Syria. The author states that Turkey envisions itself as a Middle East power, a dynamic Islamic democracy with a thriving economy that can help guide the region through the turmoil of the "Arab Spring." But it has stumbled in its efforts to stop the violence and repression in its neighbor and onetime ally Syria. Although Turkish officials have harshly criticized President Bashar Assad's response to a yearlong uprising that is increasingly taking on the character of a civil war, they have not budged the Syrian leader. And they are aware that a tougher stance could backfire. The harder they squeeze Syria, the more likely they are to anger the other non-Arab power with regional ambitions, Iran, which remains loyal to Assad. And Assad could retaliate by fomenting unrest within Turkey's borders.
The same agency published an article headlined ‘Skeptics doubt U.S. can be certain about Iran's nuclear progress’. According to the author, Iran's record of deceit fuels worry over President Obama's assurances that he'll know if Tehran starts trying to build a nuclear weapon. The article reads that despite President Obama's assurances that the United States will know if Tehran begins to secretly build a nuclear bomb, some senior officials familiar with U.S. intelligence and spying capabilities in Iran are doubtful. Over the last decade, Western intelligence agencies have twice discovered large-scale clandestine Iranian facilities built to enrich uranium. The question now is whether Iran is hiding other nuclear enrichment sites or weapons research centers.
The Hurrieyt Daily News reports that Iraqi vice president urges Turkey to pressure Iran against interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq, pointing to Turkey’s role in Tehran’s nuclear course. He also expects concrete measures from other countries for his case. Iraq’s exiled Sunni leader, Tariq al-Hashemi, has urged international and regional countries to take tangible measures to stop the judicial process launched against him by the Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, ahead of the first hearing set for May 3. He particularly focused on Turkey, asking it to try to pressure Iranagainst interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq.
According to the Washington Post, Obama’s GOP critics have pressed him to take stronger actions to relieve the public’s pain at the pump, demanding that he approve the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline and tap the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to offset the volatility in the global market caused largely by the deteriorating security situation in Iran and the Middle East.
