Erdoğan offers US-Iran mediation in call with Pezeshkian

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as Türkiye stepped up efforts to defuse rising tensions between Tehran and Washington, amid U.S. threats of possible military action.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Istanbul on Friday for talks with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Erdoğan, Iran’s foreign ministry said, as Ankara prepared to offer mediation.

Fidan will tell Araghchi that his country "is ready to contribute to resolving the current tensions through dialogue", a Turkish diplomatic source said.

Fidan would reiterate Türkiye's opposition "to military interventions against Iran (over) the regional and global risks such a step would entail", said the source, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera television on Wednesday, Fidan said he had suggested Washington tackle outstanding issues with Iran "one-by-one", starting with the nuclear file rather than trying to address everything at once.

Trump threatened a military strike on Iran over its deadly protest crackdown this month and the lack of a nuclear agreement.

A U.S. naval strike group is in the Middle East and Trump has warned it was "ready, willing and able" to hit Iran "if necessary".