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3. Turkey Urges U.S. to Resist Israeli Pressure to Strike Iran

In a joint press conference held on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated their commitment to diplomacy and warned against any military intervention in Iran, as tensions in the region continue to rise.

Fidan emphasized Turkey’s opposition to military action, stating that Ankara has expressed its rejection of any military intervention in Iran and hopes that the United States will not attack the country. He said regional issues require regional solutions and expressed deep regret over deaths during recent protests in Iran.

Fidan also stressed the importance of reviving nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington, describing them as “vital” to reducing tensions in the region. He added that nuclear talks must take place to ease the situation and called for Iran’s internal issues to be resolved without external interference.

In a pointed warning, the Turkish foreign minister said Israel is trying to persuade Turkey to launch a military attack against Iran, and that Ankara is working to convince the U.S. to avoid military action.

Araghchi, for his part, said "If the negotiations are fair and on an equal footing, the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to participate," he said, adding the standard disclaimer that Tehran has "never sought to obtain nuclear weapons".

Araghchi stressed that negotiations cannot occur under threats, criticizing what he described as a contradiction in the U.S. stance between its declared willingness to dialogue and its threats toward Iran. The Iranian foreign minister added that missile and defence capabilities 'will never be negotiated.’

He said that Tehran had no plans in place to meet with U.S. officials about resuming talks, insisting preparatory work was the first priority. "No meeting plan has been set between us and the Americans. We are ready for fair and just negotiations, but preparations are needed, both in terms of the form and subject of the discussions and the venue," he said, indicating he had discussed the matter with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan at talks in Istanbul.

A Message From Erdogan

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in a call on Friday that Turkey was "ready to assume a facilitating role between Iran and the United States to de-escalate the tensions and resolve the issues".

Pezeshkian meanwhile said the success of diplomacy depended on the "goodwill of the parties involved and the abandonment of belligerent and threatening actions in the region," his office said.

Growing Escalation

Tehran and Washington have been trading warnings since Trump threatened military action over a deadly crackdown on protests that erupted in late December over economic grievances and peaked on January 8 and 9.

Pressure mounted after the United States moved a naval fleet into the region, with Trump warning time was "running out" for Tehran, pushing for Iran to make a deal on its nuclear programme, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb.

The U.S. president brought the temperature down late on Thursday, saying he hoped to avoid military action and saying talks were on the cards with Iran. "We have a group headed out to a place called Iran, and hopefully we won't have to use it," Trump said, while speaking to media at the premiere of a documentary about his wife Melania.

The stand off has spurred calls for diplomacy from regional actors and allies of the rival countries.