Ahmadi-Nejad praises Turkish stance on Israel

By Delphine Strauss

Recep Tayyip Erdogan won praise from Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad on Tuesday for his public criticism of Israel as the Turkish and Iranian leaders mounted a display of friendship in sharp contrast to the recent low in Turkish-Israeli relations .

“Your clear stance against the Zionist regime [as Iran terms Israel] had a positive impact in the world which undoubtedly made all nations happy,” Mr Ahmadi-Nejad told his guest, in comments reported by Iran’s official media.

His approval of Mr Erdogan’s frequent outbursts against Israeli policy is a potential embarrassment as Turkey seeks to convince western partners it is not abandoning old alliances to forge a new role in the Middle East and in regional diplomacy.

Ankara fears having a nuclear-armed neighbour and declares itself ready to help in talks over Iran’s nuclear programme as an interlocutor trusted by all sides, but some in the US already doubt whether it is delivering a tough enough message.

“This is an energy project that is peaceful and humanitarian,” Mr Erdogan said in a televised news conference, adding that Iran had shown a “positive attitude” in the recent talks with six world powers in Geneva. Diplomats in Ankara argue Turkey’s message is more effective for being delivered in friendly fashion, behind closed doors.

But Ian Lesser, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told a recent conference: “The US is really going to want to know that Turkey is taking tough messages to Iran, and I think a lot of Americans are uncertain about that.”

Mr Erdogan’s visit to Tehran – the first by any influential leader since Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s controversial re-election – is also aimed at securing closer economic ties.

Turkey’s state oil company TPAO will begin exploration next month in Iran’s South Pars gas field, aiming to produce an annual 35bn cubic metres of gas, Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz said on Tuesday, according to the state-run Anatolian news agency. A multi-billion dollar deal reached in 2007 has been long-delayed.

Turkey relies on Iran for a significant part of its gas imports and would like Iranian gas to flow through the planned Nabucco pipeline to European markets – something the US opposes under current political conditions.

Additional reporting by Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran