Concurrent actions by Moscow and Tehran in the last few days indicate that Azerbaijan may not enjoy the tranquil external environment required for accelerating reforms and taking advantage of prospective oil revenues. Guliev indicated at his inaugural news conference that Russia is pressing Baku for the right to use a major ex-Soviet early warning radar complex in Azerbaijan; Russia’s border troops commander, General Andrei Nikolaev, urged Azerbaijan to join CIS arrangements for "common border defense;" a diplomatic note from Russia’s Foreign Ministry challenged Azerbaijan’s title to its offshore oil deposits, partly contracted out to international consortiums; and Iran encouraged radical Islamic demonstrations on its territory against Azerbaijan’s choice of a secular state.

Reactivation Work at Armenian Nuclear Power Plant.