On Sunday The Los Angeles Times published an article "Iran: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia squeezed between Tehran and Washington." It comments on the information by WikiLeaks. The small nations of the South Caucasus - Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia - find themselves stuck between Iran, which has the potential to stir up trouble in all three nations, and the U.S., which is set on forcing them to cut off ties with the Islamic Republic, according to U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. All three countries suffer from destabilizing internal separatist and ethnic disputes easily exploitable by outsiders. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed concern that Azerbaijan would become "a target" for Iranian attacks. As for Georgia, two years ago, relations with Iran froze over after Georgian officials, conceding to U.S. demands, agreed to extradite to the U.S. an Iranian citizen on charges of smuggling, money laundering and conspiracy. Armenia has long maintained relatively pleasant relations with Iran, in part because it is in desperate need of a regional ally. However, the U.S. does not currently impose sanctions on Armenia.
The New York Times reported that President Obama's chief nuclear adviser said Friday that the United States and its allies planned new sanctions in an effort to test "Iran's pain threshold" and force the country into suspending its production of nuclear fuel. By increasing the economic pressure, White House officials say, they hope to raise the cost to the Iranian leadership of letting the talks drag on. But it is possible, some concede, that the Iranians could react by pulling out of the discussions. The talks, held this week in Geneva, were the first in a year, and are supposed to be followed by more meetings next month, probably in Turkey.
On Sunday, The Washington Post published two articles on Iran. "Iran hardliners demand expulsion of UK ambassador" says that conservative Iranian lawmakers on Sunday demanded the explusion of the British ambassador after he criticized the country's human rights record. A group of hardline students also held a protest rally in front of the British Embassy in Tehran, trampling and then setting the British flag on fire and denouncing the United Kingdom as "Iran's most evil enemy." The students also carried photos of Majid Shahriari and Masoud Ali Mohammadi, two slain nuclear scientists, one killed last month, the other back in January, blaming Britain for the assassination of them.
Another article in The Washington Post is "Iranian president increasingly grabbing power from parliament." In a recent open letter, leading parliamentarians demanded a resolution to the escalating dispute and warned they could start several procedures, including impeachment, against the president, if his power is not checked. Members of parliament complain that Ahmadinejad is refusing to sign off on decisions they make that are legally binding on his government. They also charge that he is spending billions of dollars without the consent of the 290-member assembly, and blocking major payments to the municipality of Tehran, with which he and his administration are at odds.
Today, The Washington Post reports on the secret Iranian military exercises. Iran's army has finished a large military exercise by ground forces near the Iraqi border, the state news agency reported Monday. But unlike previous war games in which Iran boasted of weapons advances, the latest maneuvers were largely held under wraps. The maneuvers were held in secret.
The New York Times comments on the outburst of ethnic violence in Moscow. The article "Medvedev Warns Against Ethnic Attacks" says that after an outburst of ethnic violence on the streets of the capital, President Dmitri A. Medvedev on Monday warned that nationalist attacks "threaten the stability of the state," and ordered law enforcement to crack down on race-based clashes using "all powers and methods established by the law." The outbreak came two weeks after Russia was chosen as host for the 2018 World Cup. Moscow's police chief, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, held closed-door talks with Russian soccer officials on Sunday, warning that sports must be separated from politics. He told journalists that the rioters had chanted "2-8-2," calling for Russia to abolish the statute that makes it a crime to incite ethnic hatred.
The Turkish agency Hurriyet reports on political changes in government of Iran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fired his foreign minister on Monday and named the nuclear chief to serve as the country's acting top diplomat. In a brief statement on the president's website, Ahmadinejad thanked Manouchehr Mottaki for his more than five years of service but gave no explanation for the change. Ahmadinejad named nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also the country's vice president, to serve as interim foreign minister until a permanent replacement is found.
The other article published by Hurriyet is headlined "US appeals court reverses decision over Armenian suit." A federal United States appeals court on Friday voted to allow the heirs of Armenians killed during the late Ottoman Empire to seek payment from companies that sold their relatives life insurance. Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in 1915 under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey denies this, saying any deaths were the result of civil strife that erupted when Armenians took up arms in an independence struggle in eastern Anatolia. Judge Dorothy Nelson concluded that there is no express federal policy forbidding states to use the term "Armenian Genocide." The ruling revived a lawsuit filed by heirs against three German insurers.
