Iran, Turkey share stance on need to cease Israel’s crimes: FM

Araghchi made the remark in a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the third meeting of the 3+3 regional cooperation platform in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Friday, according to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued on Saturday.

He said as two big and influential neighbors in the region and the Muslim world, Iran and Turkey share a stance on the serious threat that the Israeli regime’s acts of aggression and crimes pose to regional security and stability.

“They emphasize the need for an urgent international action to end the killing of innocents, curb [Israel’s] warmongering and stop the regime’s genocide in Gaza and Lebanon,” the top Iranian diplomat added.

He also stressed the importance of improving coordination among the influential countries in the region, particularly Iran and Turkey, to make decisions and implement urgent measures to stop the Israeli regime’s war machine.

Since early October 2023, Israel has been waging brutal two-front aggression that has killed at least 42,519 people in the Gaza Strip and 2,412 others in Lebanon so far.

Erdogan, for his part, stressed it is imperative for Iran and Turkey as two important countries in the region to boost close cooperation in order to halt Israel’s genocide and crimes.

At the head of a delegation, Araghchi arrived in Istanbul as the next leg of his regional tour and also attended the 3+3 mechanism meeting. Before arriving in Istanbul, Araghchi had traveled to Jordan and Egypt for consultations with senior officials regarding the latest regional developments, particularly the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. Araghchi’s regional tour, aimed at stopping the Israeli regime’s crimes in Lebanon and Gaza, also took him to Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, and Oman.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, the Iranian foreign minister warned about the potential for a widening conflict in West Asia.

He characterized the situation in the strategic region as a “powder keg” in light of Israel’s escalating actions in the besieged Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon.

the Iranian foreign minister warned of the possibility of an ever-expanding war in West Asia, describing as a “powder keg” the situation in the strategic region following Israel’s escalation in the besieged Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon.