Azerbaijan finds itself caught in a diplomatic cul-de-sac as it debates whether to eliminate visa requirements for Iranians and Turks in reciprocation for similar privileges granted by Iran and Turkey to Azerbaijani citizens.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is on a three-day visit to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
The visits are "a step forward in implementing our designated plans," Ramin Mehman Parast, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, told the Fars news agency on January 3.
Fears of swine flu led the Turkmen government to ban its citizens from participating in this year's hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia that every able-bodied Muslim is required to make during his or her lifetime if able to afford it.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki has said that Tehran won't export its partially enriched uranium for further enrichment, as proposed by the United Nations.
An Iranian automaker plans to produce a car named after Iran's northern neighbor, Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijan model is slated to hit roads next year, the Mehr news agency reported on November 18. An adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the name is a nod to Iran's northern neighbor, the Trend news agency reported on November 19.
Islamic female clothing has become as much a political statement as it is a religious statement in many countries, which is why Marjona has a fashion problem.
The 20-year-old Tajik, a devout Muslim and madrasah student, says she feels "increasingly passionate" about wearing hijab, the Islamic headscarf, "but you aren't allowed to wear the hijab in schools."
For most of 2009, a pipeline deal involving Iran, Pakistan and India, has been stalled. But recent indicators suggest that a new version of the pipeline could get moving again.
When representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, sit down with Iranian representatives in Turkey in October, they will do so with renewed violence and harsh rhetoric coming from Tehran fresh in their minds.
