Turkey’s foreign ministry on Tuesday called on Iran and Israel to fully stop hostilities after US President Donald Trump announced a bilateral ceasefire.
“We welcome the news that Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire,” the ministry wrote, urging both parties to “fully comply” and calling for “dialogue and diplomatic channels to remain open.”
President Trump first declared the ceasefire on Tuesday after 12 days of airstrikes that saw Israel pummel various targets in the Islamic Republic and the United States bomb three of the country’s nuclear sites in an attack on Saturday.
Israel said it had agreed to Trump’s ceasefire plan, adding that it had achieved all of its objectives.
Iran stopped short of officially accepting the proposal, but its top security body said the Islamic Republic’s forces had “compelled” Israel to “unilaterally” cease fire.
Its foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, had earlier said that if Israel stopped “its illegal aggression,” Tehran would have “no intention” of continuing to fight.
Turkey’s foreign ministry expressed deep concern over the US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend, warning that the escalation had raised the risk of a global conflict to its highest level.
However, it did not issue a strongly worded statement condemning the US as it has many times with Israel since the conflict began on June 13.
© Agence France-Presse