MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“NEW YORK – A senior Iranian official said on Tuesday that Tehran was willing to share its controversial nuclear technology with neighboring countries, suggesting it could help Turkey build an atomic power plant.

The United States, European Union and their allies suspect Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons and, along with the UN Security Council, have imposed sanctions to try to stop it from enriching uranium. But Tehran says its nuclear program is to generate electric power and refuses to halt it.

‘Iran developed a very sophisticated nuclear science and technological capability, which we are quite ready to share with … neighboring countries and friendly countries in the region,’ the official, Mohammad Javad Larijani, said.

‘Turkey is for years trying to have a nuclear power plant but no country in the West is willing to build that for them,’ Larijani told reporters. ‘This is true for our Arab (neighbors) in the region.’

‘We are ready to cooperate with them in this regard, while within the NPT.’ He was referring to the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to prevent the spread of atomic weapons technology.” Read more.

Turkey against military strike on Iran – “Istanbul – Turkey is against any military strike on Iran, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Saturday, warning that speculation risked destabilising the region. ‘We do not think it is right even to talk of possible military intervention in the region… We are against such intervention and believe it would create more instability,’ Anatolia news agency quoted Davutoglu as saying in Ankara. ‘It is unacceptable that countries suspected of having nuclear weapons cause new tensions in our region,’ Davutoglu said, referring to Israel.” Read more.

Flashback: Turkish premier signals joint operation with Iran – “Turkey’s prime minister on Sunday signaled a joint military offensive with Iran against their common enemy: Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq. Turkey and Iran were working together and ‘determined,’ Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. ‘There is no question of any postponement,’ Erdogan said in a clear reference to a possible joint military operation against the main Kurdish rebel base on Qandil Mountain which sits on the Iraqi-Iranian border deep inside northern Iraq.” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey to Azerbaijan: Stand with us against Israel – “The Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan called on Baku to stand beside Ankara in its diplomatic struggle against Israel and “reconsider” its relations with the Jewish State, a Persian-language US-based website reported on Sunday… Azerbaijan has become an important strategic asset for Israel’s security and foreign affairs. In 2010, the trade between the two countries totaled more than $2 billion – double than the trade between Azerbaijan and Turkey.” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey Predicts Alliance With Egypt as Regional Anchors – “A newly assertive Turkey offered on Sunday a vision of a starkly realigned Middle East, where the country’s former allies in Syria and Israel fall into deeper isolation, and a burgeoning alliance with Egypt underpins a new order in a region roiled by revolt and revolution. The portrait was described by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey in an hourlong interview before he was to leave for the United Nations, where a contentious debate was expected this week over a Palestinian bid for recognition as a state. Viewed by many as the architect of a foreign policy that has made Turkey one of the most relevant players in the Muslim world, Mr. Davutoglu pointed to that issue and others to describe a region in the midst of a transformation. Turkey, he said, was ‘right at the center of everything.’” Read more.