TEHRAN Daily Washington Times in a commentary in its Friday edition described meeting of President Khatami and President Putin in the UN as a regional union posing a threat to American interests.
The daily wrote that in his address to the UN press conference, Iran's president called for a stronger relation with Russia.
Washington Times has limelighted President Khatami's meeting with Putin among others and wrote that Russia and Iran are opposed to American plans for transfer of the Caspian Sea's potential oil resources via Georgia-Turkey to the Mediterranean Sea. According to Washington Times, Iran argues that transfer of this oil via the existing pipelines in Iran to the Persian Gulf is more economical while Moscow prefers to carry the oil through the southern regions of Russia to the Black Sea. Quoting the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Washington Times wrote that Iran and Russia on Wednesday agreed on visiting each other's capitals, also stressing their relations in economic and industrial fields and know-how.
The American newspaper wrote that in his speech President Khatami stressed his detente policy and opening the way for relations with the U.S. Another American newspaper Washington Post called the visit a danger threatening the U.S.