LATEST: Rouhani Meets Turkey’s President Gul

MONDAY FEATURE

Week Past, Week Ahead: Iran — Rouhani’s Engagement from US to Syria to Saudi Arabia

President Rouhani has sent a letter of congratulations to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for his nominal re-election last week.

Rouhani’s message supports both the Iranian call for a political resolution — leaving Assad in power — and the Syrian regime’s presentation of legitimacy through the ballot.

Rouhani wrote Assad, “The results of this election show Syrian people’s trust and determination for moving toward stability, security and national solidarity.”

The Iranian President will continue his effort to wean foreign powers away from the Syrian opposition during his trip to Turkey today.

Ankara has been one of the main supporters of the opposition and the insurgency since the start of the uprising in March 2011, and Turkish-Iranian ties — economically vital to Iran — have been strained.

Accompanying the Syrian regime’s presentation that it is the only legitimate authority, Iran may try to revive the short-lived “contract group” with Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia in September 2012.

The Rouhani Government is pursuing “engagement” with Riyadh and has set aside its criticism of the July 2013 coup in Egypt, endorsing the election of General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as President.

The President’s message was complemented by a Sunday statement from 230 of Iran’s 290 MPs: “Syria’s successful presidential election displayed the political strength of the Syrian government and nation against the policies of the US and its regional allies.”


Rouhani Meets Turkey’s President Gul

President Rouhani has begun his high-profile visit to Turkey with a meeting with his counterpart Abdullah Gul.

Gul said Rouhani’s trip, the first Presidential journey since Hashemi Rafsanjani went to Ankara in 1996, was a “turning point” in relations with “an old, valuable friend”.

Rouhani returned the rhetorical praise, with Iran and Turkey “connecting the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean” in their resolution “to fight violence, extremism and terrorism”.

In a sign of the Iranian President’s hope to boost political links and rebuild trade — looking towards Tehran’s goal of $30 billion by 2015 — Rouhani said on Twitter that he is travelling with seven Ministers, the Governor of the Central B, and more than 100 business executives.

140+ Iranian Journalists Call for Release of Saba Azarpeyk

More than 140 Iranian journalists have called on authorities to release their colleague Saba Azarpeyk.

Azarpeyk, a reporter for several reformist publications, was detained last month during a raid on the offices of the weekly Tejarat-e Farda.

See Iran Daily, May 29: Revolutionary Guards “US Empire is Coming to an End”

The journalists said the arrest was against the Islamic Republic’s Constitution and human rights treaties: “It is both illegal and dangerous that neither Saba’s family nor the public has information about her current whereabouts.”

No information has been released on Azarpeyk’s whereabouts or whether she has seen a lawyer.

The statement called on the Rouhani Government and Culture Ministry to deal with the detention: “We want Saba Azarpeik to be freed. We want her human and legal rights to be respected and we demand information about her health situation in jail.”

Azarpeyk, who reported on beatings and detentions after the disputed 2009 Presidential election, was one of 11 journalists imprisoned in February 2012.

Her more recent work includes an article on the death of Sattar Beheshti, the Iranian blogger allegedly abused and killed by prison officials in November 2012 — the report was mentioned on the floor of Parliament, drawing attention to the case.

However, her detention could be related to articles examining efforts by hardliners to undermine the Rouhani Government.

Iran-US Nuclear Talks to Include European Union

Iran-US nuclear talks — the first publicly-declared bilateral discussions between the two countries since 1979 — have been expanded to include the European Union.

The lead Iranian negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, said he and Under Secretary of State William Burns will be joined in Geneva on Monday and Tuesday by Helga Schmid, the deputy to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

The discussions take place before the 5th round of talks on a comprehensive nuclear agreement between Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia), starting in Vienna on June 16.

The two sides are seeking the settlement before expiry of an interim Joint Plan of Agreement on July 20. If that is not possible, the negotiators are likely to pursue an extension of the interim deal while discussions continue through the summer and autumn.