According to Khabar Online's political correspondent, in his return from a two-day visit to Iran while addressing Turkish media, Erdogan described his discussions with Iranian officials saying an Israeli attack on Iran would bring disastrous consequences for the entire Middle East region.
Earlier, Israel spoke of a three-month deadline for Iran to give up its nuclear program as the Islamic Republic has maintained it would give a crushing response to any strike. Turkish Premiere also warned a regional conflict triggered by a possible Israeli strike “would not end up like the war between the United States and Iraq.”
In Tehran, Turkish Prime Minister was hosted and met by Iranian top officials, above them Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the first days of new Iranian year (began on March 20).
Erdogan had already attended Seoul Nuclear Security Summit on March 27 and 28 where Turkish media reported that he would meet the US President Barack Obama as well as the presidents of Russia and China. From there, he directly flied to Tehran with a message from Obama.
In recent years, Turkey has made efforts to arbitrate the nuclear dispute between Iran and six world powers as the 5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany).
The West powers claim Iran's nuclear program is meant for producing atomic weapons, but the Islamic Republic officials categorically reject such idea stressing that it is aimed at civilian purposes including medical research and electricity production.
Turkey has always backed Iran's peaceful nuclear program and is interested to resolve the issue through diplomatic methods as soon as possible. Ankara maintains that the economic sanctions the United States and the European Union have imposed on Iran will not make it to follow them.
However, Turkish officials have reiterated that the cooperation of Tehran with the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would contribute to settle the dispute.
Ankara’s role on the issue was first proved in Tehran Nuclear Declaration, a Turkish-Brazilian brokered proposal made and approved on the sidelines of the late G 15 Summit in Tehran.
Moreover, the second round of negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 group was held in Istanbul, Turkey in January 2011. The first round of the talks had been taken place in Geneva, Switzerland in December 2010.
Immediately after his arrival to Tehran, Erdogan met Iran's first Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi and held a joint news conference with him, where Turkish Prime Minister pointed to his discussions with high-ranking officials of the six world powers at Seoul Nuclear Security Summit.
"We have already proposed Istanbul as a place for holding the next round of negotiations between Iran and the group 5+1 and Iranian statesmen have also approved our proposal," Erdogan said.
"We had also consultations with the other party in South Korea a few days ago. We are waiting to see the result of our consultations and know about their views. We aim to improve the process of these negotiations," Turkish Premiere added.
He however avoided responding whether he is conveying a special message from some Western officials for Iran. The US President Barack Obama has made it clear that there is still time for diplomacy to work, “Provided Iran comes to the talks prepared for serious negotiations,” Clinton said.
Her remarks followed Obama’s announcement on March 30 that the U.S. was moving ahead with penalties aimed at depriving Iran of oil revenue, while also working with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states to ensure ample global petroleum supplies, ‘Turkish Weekly’ reported.
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