Turkey is drawing up plans to keep people from crossing its border from Iran if the government in Tehran collapses after possible US military action, the Middle East Eye news website reported on Tuesday.
The report said senior officials from the Turkish Foreign Ministry briefed lawmakers in a closed-door meeting at parliament on Thursday about potential scenarios involving Iran. The outlet cited two participants in the briefing.
One participant told Middle East Eye that officials used the term “buffer zone” to describe an intent to prevent a refugee wave by keeping people on the Iranian side of the border. A second participant said the officials did not explicitly use that phrase but conveyed a readiness to go beyond usual measures to keep people inside Iran.
Turkey shares a long land border with Iran across rugged terrain in the eastern provinces of Ağrı, Iğdır, Van and Hakkari, an area that has been used for years by smugglers and migrants trying to reach Turkey and, in some cases, continue to Europe.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said it has reinforced security along the Iranian border with a system of walls, surveillance towers and patrol ditches, describing the effort as a technology-backed physical barrier monitored round the clock.
Ministry officials cited measures that include 203 electro-optical towers, 43 elevator-equipped towers, a 380-kilometer modular concrete wall and 553 kilometers of defensive ditches.
This comes as Washington boosts military assets in the region amid turmoil in Iran and threats from President Donald Trump that the US could intervene. US officials said the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier entered Middle Eastern waters on Monday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said earlier this month that Turkey opposes any military intervention in Iran and that Ankara’s priority is preventing destabilization.
The closed-door briefing reportedly also included claims that about 4,000 Iranians were killed and 20,000 were wounded during protests earlier this month. The unrest was triggered by inflation and currency depreciation while Iranian authorities imposed an internet blackout and used force to suppress demonstrations.
Turkey’s planning reflects domestic pressure over migration after years of hosting the world’s largest refugee population, driven mainly by the war in Syria.
The United Nations refugee agency says Turkey hosts about 2.3 million Syrians under temporary protection along with other refugees and asylum seekers from countries including Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ankara no longer intends to follow an “open-door” approach in any new refugee wave from a neighboring country, and Turkish officials are unlikely to accept large numbers of arrivals from Iran except emergency cases.
The report said one complicating factor is the presence of a large ethnic Azerbaijani population in Iran and questions over how Turkey would respond if people from that community arrived at the border in large numbers.
Turkey allows Iranians to enter without visas for short stays, a policy that has helped boost trade and tourism but also makes border management sensitive during crises.
Fidan has warned in recent weeks that a new conflict around Iran could spill over into the region through security shocks, economic disruption and migration pressure.