In the latest example of how NATO member Turkey has become closer to Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi threatened Israel from Turkey on Sunday, saying Iran would have a proportional response ready for any Israeli attack on Iranian soil.
This comes as Israel is still considering retaliating for the October 1 attack. Iran believed it could wage a multi-front war against Israel and launch ballistic missiles at Israel twice a year and not receive any pushback.
“We have identified all the targets in Israel, and it will receive a proportionate response to any attack against Iran,” Araghchi said in an interview with Turkish TV Channel NTV. The Iranian diplomat is in Turkey as part of a regional tour where he is working to influence many countries, including those who have peace with Israel, to turn against Jerusalem. He was also in Jordan and Egypt.
Iranian media said Araghchi “told the television network that any Israeli attack on Iran is considered a redline for the Islamic Republic.”
He went on to note that “for us, any attack against Iran means crossing a redline. We will not leave such an attack unanswered. A necessary response will be given to any attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities or any similar attack.”
Threats to the US
Araghchi also threatened the US, a member of NATO alongside Ankara, during his remarks in Turkey. “For us, the US is allied with the Zionists, and if a large-scale war happens in the region, the US will be dragged into it as well, and we do not want this at all.”
The ties between Turkey and Iran appear to be tightening in terms of coordinating with Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran and Turkey both back Hamas, Ankara hosts Hamas leaders and members, and Tehran backs Hezbollah.
With Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar dead, Turkey may increasingly seek to take the reins of Hamas and influence its leadership in terms of the wider war on Israel, which Iran is leading across the region. Turkey is also a close ally of Qatar, where the rest of the Hamas leadership lives. Qatar is a major non-NATO ally of the US.
So, most of the remaining Hamas leaders now live in two countries that are US allies: Turkey and Qatar, which host these groups knowing the extent of planning and exact calculations that went into the massacre committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023.