Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, the last leg of an extensive Mideast tour meant to shore of support for Tehran in the face of an expected Israeli counterattack.
Araghchi’s expected meetings with the Turkish government – one of the most vocal state supporters of the genocidal jihadist terrorist organization Hamas – have taken on a new urgency in light of the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar from the battlefield on Thursday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that they had killed Sinwar in an exchange with Hamas terrorists in Rafah, southern Gaza, in which the IDF had responded to “suspicious” terrorist activity but but was not initially aware it had encountered the head of the organization.
Sinwar took over Hamas after the elimination of “political” chief Ismail Haniyeh, who died in an explosion in Tehran during a visit to attend President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration. Neither Israel nor any other individual or group has taken responsibility for the apparent bomb in Haniyeh’s temporary residence in the Iranian capital, but Tehran has explicitly blamed Jerusalem and vowed it would exact revenge for the targeting of an esteemed Iranian guest.
Iran has honored Sinwar, the mass murderer believed to have planned and orchestrated the siege of Israel on October 7, 2023, with effusive praise in its propaganda magazines and amplification of Hamas messages vowing the “resistance” will continue to attempt to kill Israelis without Sinwar present.
Araghchi, the Iranian foreign ministry, told reporters upon arriving in Turkey on Friday that talks with Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and senior officials were now “more important than ever.”
“Considering the current situation in the region and the Zionist regime’s [Israel’s] attacks on Lebanon that followed the attacks on Gaza, and the dangerous circumstances that exist in the region, we have held talks with the regional countries,” Araghchi said, according to Iran’s PressTV. “Currently, there is a common understanding of the danger of the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, the displaced people, and the issue of the possible expansion of the war into the region. And in fact, it is a dominant concern.”
“Due to the current developments in the region and the dangers that threaten the region … today’s talks will be more important than ever,” the top diplomat emphasized.
Araghchi’s Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, expressed concerns that a direct war between Israel and Iran was a “high possibility” currently, suggesting this would be a dominant topic of talks on Friday.
“The war between Israel, Iran needs to be considered a high possibility,” Fidan said, according to the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency.
“I believe that assessing this as a high possibility by regional states would be the most prudent step, as we need to be prepared for such a scenario, both as a country and as a region,” he continued. “This spread is certainly not the kind of expansion we desire. The widespread nature of war in the region and the triggering of instability areas are not what we wish for.”
“Therefore, we are in no way supporters of any conflict with Iran that could escalate into war,” he concluded. “We are completely against this; However, on the other hand, if Iran exercises its right to legitimate self-defense, that is, of course, its own right.”
Asked about the elimination of Sinwar, one of the world’s deadliest terrorists, Fidan lamented, “Gaza has unfortunately turned into an open-air cemetery where thousands of innocent people have been killed and subjected to genocide.”
Sinwar’s Hamas is an explicitly genocidal organization promoting the elimination of the state of Israel and its entire population. Khalil Hayya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, reaffirmed that goal in remarks on Friday confirming Sinwar’s death.
“The occupation [Israeli] prisoners will not return unless the aggression on Gaza stops, there is a complete withdrawal from [Gaza], and our prisoners are released from the prisons,” Hayya said. “Hamas will continue until the establishment of the Palestinian state on all Palestinian soil with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Prior to visiting Turkey, Araghchi made stops in Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Jordan, and, yesterday, Egypt. Conversations in several of these states were reportedly challenging, particularly in Jordan and Egypt, where leaders pressured Iran to stop escalating hostilities with Israel.
“A comprhensive region-wide war will have grave consequences for the security and future of every nation and every pople in the area,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi scolded Araghchi on Thursday. King Abdullah II of Jordan similarly insisted that Iran consider “the need for regional de-escalation” and warned that Jordan, under no circumstances, would “be a theater for regional conflicts.” Jordan is located directly in between Iran and Israel.
Egypt and Jordan are technically in a state of frigid peace with Israel and have not enjoyed warm ties with Iran, making conversations with Araghchi difficult. Turkey, despite being a NATO ally, is far more aligned with Iran’s support for Hamas and similar jihadist terror groups than Egypt or Jordan. Erdogan is a public Hamas supporter and has repeatedly insisted that Hamas is a legitimate “resistance” group and “not a terrorist organization.” Hamas maintains a formal office in Turkey since 2011. Following the massacre of 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, Erdogan organized a massive rally in Istanbul in support of Hamas to denounce “murderer Israel.”
On Tuesday, Israeli authorities accused the Hamas cell in Turkey of overseeing a failed suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
“The findings of this investigation clearly indicate the establishment of Hamas headquarters in Turkey and their extensive efforts abroad to incite violence and carry out bombings in Israel,” Israeli authorities said.
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