Turkey to offer help resolving US-Iran tension: source

ISTANBUL: Turkey will offer to help resolve tensions between Washington and Tehran when Iran’s top diplomat visits, a foreign ministry source said Thursday a day ahead of the visit.

“Turkey is ready to contribute to resolving the current tensions through dialogue,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was to tell his counterpart Abbas Araghchi when the pair meet on Friday, the source said.

Turkey plans to ‘reinforce border security’ if US attacks Iran

Turkey is weighing contingency plans along its border if the United States attacks neighbouring Iran, a senior official told AFP on Thursday.

“If the United States attacks Iran and the regime falls, Turkey is planning additional measures to reinforce border security,” said the official, who requested anonymity.

Washington has not ruled out a new military intervention against Tehran over its harsh response this month to protests, which according to rights groups has left thousands dead.

A US naval force led by an aircraft carrier took up position in Middle Eastern waters, US Central Command said on Monday, without revealing its precise location.

NATO member Turkey, which shares a 530-kilometre (330-mile) border with Iran, has often expressed opposition to military operations targeting the Islamic Republic.

Part of their joint frontier is secured by a wall stretching 380 kilometres but “it has proven insufficient”, the official told AFP.

At this stage, Turkish officials are avoiding the use of the term “buffer zone.”

Among the plans are “to increase the deployment of technological border security systems and boost troop numbers,” the official said.