Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rohani held an official meeting in Ankara on April 16 with the Syrian conflict and bilateral trade high on the agenda.
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Iran showed off parts of its new Russian S-300 missile defence system during National Army Day on Sunday, where President Hassan Rouhani said the country’s armed forces were no threat to neighbouring countries.
In its first overseas operation since the Revolution, the regular army said earlier this month that it had deployed some of its special forces and commandos to Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war there.
“We should work together for tackling the problem of sectarianism and terrorism that have occurred in our region”, Erdogan said.
He appealed to the heads of Syria and Iraq in a cry that, “The Iranian Army is the Islamic Army that protects Muslim countries from terrorism and Zionism”, and went on to offer Iranian military assistance should they require it. Turkey has close ties with Riyadh.
Despite the political divisions, Turkey could be one of the major beneficiaries as Rouhani, bolstered by reformist gains in February elections, pursues plans to strengthen the private sector and welcome foreign investors.
“We promised Turkey that Iran is able to ensure Turkey’s energy security”, Rouhani said, adding Tehran can fully meet Ankara’s gas, oil, electricity and petrochemical needs.
Business was revived in April a year ago after a preliminary agreement on a nuclear deal between Iran and six leading world powers was reached, which restrained Iran from producing a nuclear arsenal.
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Iran has been seeking to integrate into the global financial system since nuclear-related sanctions were lifted in January, but has accused the USA and the European Union of shutting it out despite the deal.
