Turkey-Iran Relations Deteriorate
Semih Idiz explains the breakdown in Turkey-Iran relations over Syria.
The Syrian crisis has made it more difficult for Turkey and Iran to continue giving the impression of normality in their ties, something they have tried hard to do in the past despite disagreements on specific issues. With Ankara firmly behind the Syrian opposition, and Tehran continuing its political and military support for the regime of President Bashar al Assad, serious cracks have started to emerge in relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile Turkey’s decision to call on NATO for Patriot missiles against the possibility of a missile attack from Syria has upped the ante considerably for Tehran, leading to less than diplomatic exchanges between the two capitals. The latest spate of verbal sparring came after Iranian Army Chief of Staff General Hassan Firouzabadi warned Turkey against the deployment of Patriot missiles, expected to take place in late January or early February.
Not mincing his words Gen. Firouzabadi even suggested this could be a prelude to world war. He claimed on Iranian state television (Dec. 15) that the true aim in deploying the missiles in Turkey was to protect Israel against Iran and to restrict Moscow’s capacity to help the Syrian regime.
“Unfortunately, one by one, Western countries are approving the deployment of Patriot missiles to Turkey’s border with Syria while they are planning a world war, which is very dangerous for the future of humanity and Europe itself,” Firouzabadi declared.
