Turkish, Iranian top diplomats discuss regional issues

By Nazli Yuzbasioglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s foreign minister and his Iranian counterpart Wednesday discussed the recent tensions in the region, particularly the U.S.- Iran row, over the phone, according to diplomatic sources.

The phone conversation between Mevlut Cavusoglu and Mohammad Javad Zarif came in the wake of the Iranian missile attack on the U.S. bases in Iraq, which Iran said was a response to the U.S. killing of the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, last week.

Today’s attacks continued a series of tit-for-tat recriminations between the U.S. and Iranian-backed forces that began with the killing of an American contractor at a U.S. base in Iraq late last month.

The death of Soleimani marked a dramatic escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which have often been at a fever pitch since President Donald Trump chose in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw Washington from a 2015 nuclear pact world powers struck with Tehran.

Over the phone, Cavusoglu also conveyed his condolences to Zarif for those who lost their lives when a Ukrainian plane crashed early Wednesday in Iran immediately after takeoff.

The crash killed all 167 passengers and nine crew members on board.

*Writing by Fahri Aksut