Turkey says opposes military operations against Iran

ISTANBUL: Turkey on Thursday said it opposes a military operation against Iran, as US President Donald Trump had repeatedly talked about coming to the aid of the Iranian people over the crackdown on protests.

“We’re against a military operation against Iran. We believe the authentic problems of Iran should be resolved by themselves,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul.

He said that Iran’s economic grievances were “misunderstood as an uprising against” the Islamic republic.

The protests, which rights groups claim has left at least 3,428 people dead, have seen thousands of people take to the streets in all corners of Iran against a government with low tolerance for dissent.

The Iranian government was already battling an economic crisis after years of sanctions and recovering from the June war against Israel.

Fidan called for dialogue to the crisis.

“We absolutely want problems to be resolved through dialogue,” he said.

“Hopefully, the United States and Iran will resolve this issue among themselves — whether through mediators, other actors, or direct dialogue. We are closely following these developments.”