The Georgian government broke off diplomatic relations with Russia on Friday, and Russia responded by doing the same.
It marks the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that Russia had severed formal diplomatic ties with one of the 14 other autonomous republics that became independent states in 1991.
It was also a sign of ripples still being felt in post-Soviet politics after the war earlier this month over the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Adding to the tension, a lawmaker in South Ossetia said Friday that Russia intended to eventually absorb the province at the center of the war that broke out August 7 when Georgia sent troops into South Ossetia to wrest back control from separatists, prompting Russia to send in hundreds of tanks and troops.
The countries will retain consular offices on each other's territories, handling such matters as issuing passports and assisting their citizens with legal affairs, but the political ties will now be handled through intermediaries, a spokeswoman for the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.
Georgia is now in talks with several countries that may assume the role of representing Georgia in Moscow, the spokeswoman said, as, for example, the Swiss Embassy in Tehran represents US interests in Iran, a country the United States has no diplomatic relations with.
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CRAWFORD, Texas (Agencies): The White House said Sunday that Iran’s announcement it had launched a home-built rocket into space was “troubling” because such technology could also be used for ballistic missiles. “The Iranian development and testing of rockets is troubling and raises further questions about their intentions,” spokesman Gordon Johndroe said as US President George W. Bush spent time on his Texas ranch. “This action and dual use possibilities for their ballistic missile program have been a subject of IAEA discussions and are inconsistent with their UN Security Council obligations,” Johndroe said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency — the UN nuclear watchdog. He spoke after Tehran said it had sent a home-built rocket carrying a dummy satellite into space on Sunday, in a move that could further exacerbate tensions with the West over its nuclear drive.
“The Safir (Ambassador) rocket was successfully launched. All its systems ... are Iranian made,” Reza Taghipour, head of Iran’s space agency, told state television, adding that a “test satellite was put into orbit.” “We have paved the way for placing a satellite in space in future,” state television said, showing images of the pre-dawn rocket launch. Western governments suspect Iran is trying to build an atomic weapon and have voiced concern that the technology used in the Islamic republic’s space program could be diverted to military use, claims denied by Tehran. Sunday’s development came amid an international standoff over Tehran’s long-standing refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but also the core of an atomic bomb.
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By FATEN BUSHEHRI
Iranian officials have drawn up a contingency plan to evacuate foreign visitors - including Bahrainis - if there is an outbreak of war with the US or Israel, according to a Bahraini travel operator.However, a looming crisis over the nuclear standoff has done little to deter Bahrainis making their regular pilgrimage to religious sites in Iran.
While the global media speculates about a potential nuclear war, some travel operators say they have seen a 50 per cent surge in the number of Bahraini pilgrims making the trip to the Persian state.
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