Turkey said Sunday it was optimistic that a two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States due to expire on Wednesday would be extended, giving the sides more time to continue talks and avoid a return to fighting.
Speaking at the close of the three-day Antalya Diplomacy Forum in southern Turkey, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara supported efforts led by Pakistan to keep negotiations going and prevent a new round of hostilities.
“No one wants to see a new war break out when the ceasefire expires next week. We hope … the parties will extend the ceasefire,” Fidan said.
“I hope there’ll be an extension. I am optimistic.”
Pakistan is leading preparations for a new round of high-level peace talks between Washington and Tehran after an earlier round ended without agreement last weekend.
Fidan said he had spoken with Pakistani officials on Sunday but did not say when new talks might take place.
“The continuation of negotiations is something the entire international community wants. There is significant pressure in this regard,” he said.
“Under this level of pressure, I believe the parties should not see any obstacle to extending the ceasefire in order to continue peace negotiations.”
He said that unless the sides turned to a more confrontational course there was “a strong possibility” the ceasefire would be extended and negotiations would continue.
“Hopefully, a more positive scenario will emerge. With some luck, by that time, the key issues in the negotiations may already have been resolved,” he said.
Despite the diplomatic push, Iran said Sunday that a final peace deal remained far off.
Fidan said the talks had reached a critical stage and said both sides appeared sincere and willing to keep the process alive.
Turkey has backed the Pakistan-led initiative along with Egypt.
Fidan also accused Israel of trying to create a “fait accompli” in Lebanon despite an existing ceasefire and said the focus on Iran-US negotiations risked allowing developments there to go overlooked.
“The ongoing Iran-United States negotiations seem to be overshadowing this situation in Lebanon,” he said. “Israel appears to be trying to take advantage of this distraction to create a fait accompli.”
He repeated criticism he made on Saturday, when he accused Israel of using security concerns as a pretext to seize more land.
“We are talking about a fundamentalist government,” Fidan said. “We are talking about a security problem that troubles the world.”
© Agence France-Presse