As Iran tensions mount, beware the hidden hand of – Latest News
While Washington searches for tactics to weaken Iran’s murderous rulers, our supposed NATO ally Turkey is working extra time to keep the mullahs alive — and in energy.
This week’s diplomatic tug-of-war over US-Iran negotiations is a win for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s Islamist strongman, who has led a cynical marketing campaign to stall for time and block US and Israeli army motion towards the Islamic Republic after its brutal crackdown on civilian protesters.
He’s feigning concern that army motion would spark “regional instability,” however his actual aim is straightforward: Keep Iran’s theocracy from falling — and stop the emergence of a free, democratic state that might shatter his regional ambitions.
Along with Qatar and Egypt, Erdogan has reportedly proposed to either side a three-year “deal” beneath which Iran would conform to restrict its uranium enrichment, prohibit its use of ballistic missiles and pause arms shipments to its regional allies
It would do nothing to alleviate the struggling of Iran’s people.
And it could guarantee the regime’s stability — permitting it to outlast President Donald Trump’s remaining time in workplace.
The diplomatic tug-of-war over US-Iran negotiations is a win for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s Islamist strongman, who has led a cynical marketing campaign to dam army motion towards Tehran. AP
It’s a smokescreen, and Trump should not fall for it.
The president’s negotiating group must be clear-eyed: Ankara’s precedence shouldn’t be peace, however regime survival.
For Erdogan, a crippled Islamist regime in Tehran is much more helpful than a democratic one that may align with the West.
Why? Because Iran’s terror empire advantages him.
By maintaining Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza armed and operational, Tehran helps Erdogan weaken Israel — a strategic obsession for the Turkish chief.
A consistently threatened Israel permits Erdogan to posture as the Middle East’s subsequent great energy broker, claiming management whereas chaos reigns.
That’s why, as US naval and air property assemble throughout the area, Tehran is clinging to Ankara’s overtures — seking negotiations to keep away from a ultimate reckoning.
Europe has labeled Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards a terrorist group for murdering 1000’s of peaceable protesters.
Erdogan, nonetheless, praised Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for his authorities’s “handling” of the unrest — successfully endorsing Tehran’s declare that the demonstrations had been “terrorist attacks . . . clearly directed by Israeli-linked elements.”
In doing so, Erdogan is brazenly empowering an enemy of the United States.
This is why Turkey rushed to offer itself as host for the talks deliberate for Friday: to not mediate, however to dam Washington from performing.
The summit has been moved to Oman at Iran’s request — however that has not slowed Ankara’s eagerness to defend the regime.
If the talks proceed, US negotiators must be on guard.
Turkey might offer to take custody of half of Iran’s extremely enriched uranium for “safekeeping” — a proposal just lately floated by Ankara.
Erdogan would push this concept as a means of “conflict prevention,” however there’s no motive to imagine weapons-grade uranium could be safer in Turkey’s arms than in Iran’s.
Ankara shouldn’t be a benevolent ally advancing US pursuits, however a strategic saboteur.
If Turkey will get its approach, the summit in Oman will result in continued delays in bringing down Tehran’s regime.
Erdogan in current days has been prepping the ground, encouraging the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan and Qatar to insist on additional rounds of “diplomatic efforts.”
In doing so, Ankara not solely emboldens Iran’s despots, however constructs a collective regional effort to desert Iran’s people — who’re crying out for the likelihood to deliver down the regime and remake Iran as a democratic ally of America and the West.
For Erdogan, preserving a weakened Islamic Republic serves one overriding function: blocking the emergence of a US–Israeli security order that might sideline Turkey’s ambitions.
Since late 2024, Iran’s regional place has collapsed — following Assad’s fall in Syria, the dismantling of its proxy networks, and a humiliating 12-day confrontation with Israel.
A decisive American-Israeli strike that removes Iran’s management would speed up this shift — and go away Erdogan remoted in a radically new Middle East.
But a wounded regime permits Turkey to develop its affect whereas Israel stays consumed by Iran’s terror web.
It’s why Erdogan continues to tolerate — and at instances allow — Hamas and Hezbollah as devices to keep the Jewish state trapped in everlasting disaster.
He goals to not free the Middle East from the Islamic Republic, however to maintain a zombie regime in Tehran — too weak to dominate, but robust enough to distract his rivals and protect Turkey’s room to maneuver.
And he’s doing it as a “NATO ally.”
Sinan Ciddi is director of the Turkey program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the place William Doran is a analysis intern.
