World Press on Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus (March 30, 2012)

The Washington Post published an article by Scott Wilson headlined 'Mitt Romney prepares to challenge Obama on foreign policy'. According to the author, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney is preparing to broaden his challenge to President Obama’s management of foreign affairs, sensing political vulnerability in an area in which the incumbent has received his strongest public support. That is changing, particularly in the Romney campaign, as the former Massachusetts governor begins to set his sights on the general election, he believes. The emergence of foreign policy in the campaign comes during a particularly difficult period in Afghanistan and at a time when fears are rising about Iran’s nuclear program. The recent scandal involving President Obama and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev will only strengthen Romney's position.

The Guardian published another article devoted to human rights violations in Iran. The article written by Kamran Hashemi is devoted to the problem of the Iranian Baha'i community, a religious minority that faces persecution at every level by country's state machinery. "The first day of April is traditionally a day of fun and laughter in Britain. For most Iranians it is Sizdah-Bidar – a time of family, picnics, and outdoor celebration. But for Iran's seven Baha'i leaders, it has another meaning: 10,000 cumulative days of unjustified imprisonment, with no prospect of release until 2028," the author says, "Shut away from the world, their "family" is now the hundreds of other prisoners of conscience that languish in Iran's prisons. The seven are distinguished for their services to society, not criminality, yet they now survive in cramped, pestilential conditions, lacking essential medical care. Their suffering is emblematic of the human rights crisis in Iran".

Hurriyet published an article by Taha Ozhan devoted to the Syrian crisis. The author seems sceptical about Bashar al-Assad's readiness to stop violence. "So, the UN wants to see the al-Assad regime, which killed most of the 8,000+ people killed during demonstrations, to allow people to protest freely," Ozhan says sarcastically, adding "The Annan plan even might have been welcomed in a dictatorship. Unfortunately, the al-Assad regime is not even a dictatorship; it is a messy gangster-ship."