World opinion roundup
Here's what commentators and columnists are saying in other nations, as presented by BBC Monitoring.
Press comment on France's reported role in obstructing agreement at Geneva nuclear talks:
Mardom Salari newspaper: "Francois Hollande, who is facing a domestic financial crisis and possible defeat in the next elections, has adopted an aggressive foreign policy stance in order to divert public opinion."
Keyhan newspaper (main report): "France's role in the failure to reach agreement at the Geneva talks has been raised. … However, the real reason is the fact that Iran insisted on maintaining its red line on the nuclear issue and safeguarding its people's rights before the P5+1 [the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany]."
Iranian social media comment on killing of Deputy Minister Safdar Rahmatabadi and the official line denying that this was a political assassination [see related story]:
Andishehnovin blog: "It can be construed as a conflict inside the government or, probably it was done by opposition groups or people, and the regime dismisses claims of these assassinations being politically motivated in order to save its waning authority in public opinion." [The Andishehnovin blog claims to be an "independent critique", though the views it expresses place it more towards the reformist end of the Iranian political spectrum.]
Posted by user "elpersiano" on the Balatarin website: "These statements [by the head of the Tehran security police, denying political motivation] are made from fear. They know that if they accept the fact that the assassination had political reasons, they should seriously follow up the case and find those behind it. That is why they want to make it look as if it was done for personal reasons." ["elpersiano" often comments on YouTube videos and news reports related to Iran; the comments are generally critical of the Iranian conservative political system.]
Press comment on Communist Party plenum on economic reforms:
Comment by Chi Fulin in Beijing's Global Times: "China is at a new historical starting point. Today's reform focus is straightening out the relationship between the government and the market and unleashing the dynamics of the market. ... Through upgraded reform, China will be able to avoid the middle-income trap and join the ranks of upper middle-class countries in the next decade or a longer period."
Comment by Zhang Tianwei in Beijing Qingnian Bao (Beijing Youth Daily): "Even without changes in the external market, the Chinese economy's development model of the past is already difficult to sustain. In recent years, large-scale air pollution has broken out in many parts of China. This carries a warning that China's environmental carrying capacity has reached its limit and or even been 'overrun'. Even if market demand was still strong in developed countries, it would still be very difficult for China to continue providing a steady stream of cheap goods at the expense of its environment and resources."
Editorial in Beijing's Renmin Ribao (People's Daily, Chinese Communist Party newspaper): "Today's reform has reached a critical juncture once again. On the one hand, there is the transformation of government functions, financial system reform and strengthening the anti-corruption system. These unavoidable and inescapable issues send a reminder that our development still has not reached the time for opening the champagne. On the other hand, reform itself is also facing a 'revolution of rising expectations'. Besides material interests, people's demands for fairness are more intense."