TEHRAN, Iran — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was until recently a frequent critic of Iran’s policies in the region. These criticisms were not only numerous, but also expressed at different levels — and particularly after differences over Syria became more serious. But would a coup in Turkey have changed relations between the two countries?

There is no doubt that Turkey-Iran relations in the past few years — and especially with the coming to office of President Hassan Rouhani in 2013 and the return of Iran to the international stage — has not been as warm as in the recent past. This cooling down is rooted in differences of opinion over developments related to the Arab Spring. The increasing political gap appears to also have had economic repercussions. Indeed, in the past three years, bilateral trade has been mired in a significant downward trend: In the first 11 months of 2015, trade volume dropped almost 30% to $9 billion, compared to the year before.

But do the differences over the Arab Spring and the declining economic component of the Tehran-Ankara relationship mean that Iran would have been happy with the removal of Erdogan through the Turkish military’s undemocratic intervention?

As the recent coup attempt in Turkey unfolded late on July 15, Iran — and in particular its foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif —was among the first to react. But what is the reason for the immediate Iranian support for Erdogan, despite the serious differences over the region and especially Syria?