South Korea's media blasted Iran on Wednesday for the angry, mob-like scenes that marked the end of the World Cup qualifying match.
Underlying the chaotic situation throughout the Middle East is the Obama administration's dysfunctional political strategy of switching sides in the Arab Spring revolutionary wars.
Rebellion has shaken Turkey since May 31. Is it comparable to the Arab upheavals that overthrew four rulers since 2011, to Iran's Green Movement of 2009 that led to an apparent reformer being elected president last week, or perhaps to Occupy Wall Street, which had negligible consequences?
As soon as the results of the Iranian elections were announced, the world's media proclaimed that a "moderate and reformist" cleric, Hasan Rowhani, would become the new president of Iran.
Australia beat Iraq 1-0 in Sydney. Iran won 1-0 at Ulsan, South Korea, and finished first in its group. South Korea secured second place on goal difference after finishing even on points with Uzbekistan, which won 5-1 at home against Qatar.
Outnumbered at the just-completed G-8 conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not give an inch on Syria, preferring to maintain one of Russia's most valuable, though unpopular, alliances.
The United States and its Western allies see a chance for a breakthrough on containing Iran's suspected nuclear-weapons program with Hasan Rowhani, who won Iran's presidential election last week.
The surprising victory of a reformist candidate in Iran's presidential election has put Israel in a difficult position as it tries to halt the Iranian nuclear program: With Hasan Rowhani likely to enjoy an international honeymoon, Israel could have a hard time rallying support for new sanctions — or possible military action — against its archfoe, even as it says the clock is ticking on Tehran's march toward nuclear weapons.
Iran's newly elected reformist-backed president said Sunday that the country's dire economic problems cannot be solved "overnight," as he took his first steps in consulting with members of the clerically dominated establishment on his new policies.
As the polls opened Friday in Iran's presidential election, a leading member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee declared the winner would be nothing more than a "pliable and dependable lap dog" who will serve Iran's extremist religious rulers.
The White House congratulated Iranians Saturday on the election of a more moderate president and said the Obama administration "remains ready" to hold direct talks with Tehran over its suspected nuclear weapons program.
The Obama administration condemned as an "unprovoked terrorist attack" a rocket assault on a camp for Iranian dissidents in Iraq that killed two people and injured more than three dozen on Saturday.
Special elections at select spots in the United States for Iranian-Americans and expatriates to vote on Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's replacement kick off Friday, but voter turnout is low as young people in particular see their ballots as worthless.
Iran's top leader gave a salty rebuke Friday to U.S. questions over the openness of the presidential contest in the Islamic Republic, telling Washington "the hell with you" after casting his ballot in a race widely criticized in the West as rigged in favor of Tehran's ruling system.
I depart America for two blissful weeks in Italy and return to find that my country has been transformed, rather rudely, into a totalitarian state on the order of Iran, possibly even North Korea.
