President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkiye is working hard to prevent US-Iran tensions from tipping the Middle East into a new conflict, as the two adversaries signal that disagreement over Tehran’s missile arsenal threatens to torpedo a deal.
Speaking to reporters on a return flight from a visit to Egypt, Erdogan added that talks at the level of the US and Iranian leadership would be helpful after lower-level nuclear negotiations due in Oman on Friday, according to a transcript of his comments shared by his office on Thursday.
Turkiye was doing its best to prevent an escalation, said Erdogan, who has spent years cultivating a close relationship with US President Donald Trump while expanding Ankara’s diplomatic influence across the Middle East and beyond.
Iran and the US remain at odds over Washington’s insistence that negotiations include Tehran’s missile arsenal and Iran’s vow to discuss only its nuclear programme, in a standoff that has led to mutual threats of airstrikes.
Differences over the scope and venue for the discussions have raised doubts whether the meeting would take place, leaving open the possibility that Trump could carry out a threat to strike Iran.
Asked on Wednesday whether Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should be worried, Trump told : “I would say he should be very worried. Yeah, he should be.” He added that “they’re negotiating with us” but did not elaborate.
After Trump spoke, US and Iranian officials said the two sides had agreed to shift the talks’ location to Muscat after initially accepting Istanbul. But there was no indication they had found common ground on the agenda.
Tensions are high across the region as the US builds up forces there, and regional players seek to avoid a military confrontation that many fear could escalate into a wider war.
