Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s visit to Iran last week came as something of a surprise given the frosty climate between Ankara and Tehran due to serious differences over Syria. It was only a matter of days before the visit that Davutoglu, in an interview with Al Jazeera, had lambasted Iran for its support of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
The Iranian government has generally remained diplomatically restrained against such outbursts from Turkey. It has preferred to leave the job of responding to Turkey to the Iranian media — which has often aired virulent claims that Ankara is aiding al-Qaeda-related terrorists in Syria — and to lawmakers in the Iranian parliament.