In August 2013, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attended the oath of office in Tehran for newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan followed up with a visit in January 2014, trying to bridge Iranian and Turkish differences on Syria and to increase bilateral cooperation, particularly on economic and trade ties. On June 9, almost a year since his election, Rouhani made Iran's first official presidential visit to Ankara in 18 years.

This timeline coincides with the breakthrough between the United States and Iran, where the two sides’ delegations are holding bilateral talks in Geneva on June 9-10 to discuss the nuclear issue. It also comes after the May 15 meeting in London of the "Friends of Syria" where foreign ministers from several nations discussed ways to support Syria’s opposition. Diplomatic sources told Al-Monitor that Turkey continues to court for “action in Syria” — meaning either providing the opposition with “lethal weapons” or for a “foreign military intervention.”

That is in strict contrast to Iran’s unwavering position on Syria. Rouhani repeated it during the joint news briefing with his hosting counterpart, Abdullah Gul. “What is important for us is to reach an agreement for the sake of stability and security in these countries [Syria and Egypt], to make sure that the people’s votes determine the governance of these countries and therefore this ends the bloodshed in the region,” the Iranian president said. He also said during the joint news briefing with Erdogan that "extremism and violence is harmful to all countries in the region." Plus, Rouhani confirmed that he sent a congratulatory message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for winning the presidential election on June 3. Egyptians also went to polls last month, electing Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who brought down Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, as president. Rouhani's comments showed that Iran and Turkey will continue to have different approaches to both Syria and Egypt.

Despite those differences, Iran is aiming for the visit to have a positive outlook overall. “They will showcase what good relations they have with Turkey, a NATO member country, and how the Shia are not the enemy of Sunni Muslims,” one European diplomat told Al-Monitor. “In other words, Iranians will get some good oxygen from Turkey and that is all about it.”