All eyes are on Turkish-Iranian ties due to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-day visit to Iran that began Jan. 28 with a view toward advancing bilateral cooperation despite serious differences on a number of issues.
To start, the two countries are at odds over Syria, unreservedly supporting opposite sides in the conflict and having fundamentally different positions on the future of President Bashar al-Assad. While Ankara hopes for the demise of Assad and his regime, Tehran is clearly working to ensure that both remain in power in any settlement reached.