Iran

[Shahab3]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.iranmania.com/news/040804e.asp">http://www.iranmania.com/news/040804e.asp</a><!-- m -->

Iran's president Khatami due in neighbouring Azerbaijan

BAKU, Aug 4 (AFP) - Iran's President Mohammad Khatami was due Thursday to make his first official visit to neighbouring Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic caught in the middle of a tussle between Tehran and Washington for influence in the oil-rich Caspian Sea.
...
Officials have said Khatami and Azerbaijan's pro-western President Ilham Aliyev will sign a raft of bilateral agreements to bolster economic and cultural cooperation, as well as discuss security issues.
....
Azerbaijan and Iran, along with the other states with Caspian shorelines Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, have for years been at loggerheads over how to divide up the landlocked sea between them.
...
The sea is estimated to hold energy reserves bigger than those in the United States and the North Sea and is seen as a useful alternative to Middle East oil.

The Pentagon, saying it wants to help protect Azerbaijan's oil infrastructure, has provided Azerbaijan with coast guard cutters and run joint training operations with the Azeri navy in the Caspian Sea.

This year, top brass in the US military have also said they hoped to start a large-scale training programme for the Azeri military and have floated the idea of using military facilities in Azerbaijan as temporary bases for US forces deploying in the region.

However, Iran, designated by US President George W. Bush as part of an "axis of evil," fears the US military presence on its northern border is part of a US plot against it, say analysts.

"(Tehran) wants to limit the foreign military presence in certain areas and I think the discussions between President Khatami and Ilham Aliyev will be along those lines," said Rassim Musabekov, an independent foreign affairs analyst in Baku.
...

.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=8/1/2004&Cat=2&Num=010">http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description. ... =2&Num=010</a><!-- m -->

Tehran, Baku Can Play Effective Role In Maintaining Regional Security: Khatami

TEHRAN (IRNA) -- President Mohammad Khatami said here Saturday that Baku and Tehran could play effective role in restoring security and stability to the region given the historical and cultural bonds between the two countries.

In a meeting with visiting Azeri Foreign Minister Elmara Mammadyarov, Khatami added the region belongs to all its countries and therefore, the regional countries should cooperate to restore stability and develop it.

Pointing to the determination of the two countries' officials to expand mutual relations in recent years, he said the agreements signed by Tehran and Baku will ensure mutual interests and deepen bilateral cooperation.

Touching upon crises in the region, Khatami expressed hope that the existing problems would be resolved through wisdom and adoption of proper policies.
...