Top Turkish diplomat says Iran ready to negotiate, warns against US attack 

Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has warned that a United States attack on Iran would be “wrong”, calling on Washington and Tehran to resolve their issues diplomatically and gradually.

In an interview with Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar Atas, segments of which aired on Wednesday, Fidan called for regional cooperation as the US amasses military assets in the Middle East amid a spike in tensions with Iran.

“It’s wrong to start the war again,” Fidan said.

The US has sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the Gulf as Trump continues to threaten to launch renewed attacks against Iran after last June’s 12-day conflict.

For their part, Iranian officials have promised to launch a “comprehensive and regret-inducing response” if attacked again.

Earlier this month, Trump told Iranian antigovernment protesters that “help is on the way”, urging them to take over state institutions.

On Tuesday, Trump highlighted the growing US military force in the region while keeping the door open for diplomacy.

“By the way, there’s another beautiful armada floating beautifully toward Iran right now. So we’ll see. I hope they make a deal,” he told supporters at a rally.

Despite the escalating rhetoric, Fidan suggested that a diplomatic resolution is still possible.

“Iran is ready to negotiate a nuclear file again,” the top Turkish diplomat said.

After Israel started the war by bombing Iran in June, the US struck Iran’s three main nuclear facilities. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the attack “obliterated” the Iranian nuclear programme.

But Tehran has insisted on its right to nuclear enrichment, and the whereabouts of the country’s highly enriched uranium remain unknown.

Beyond the nuclear programme, US officials have also said Iran should scale back its missile arsenal and end support to allied non-state actors in the region, like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

“My advice always to the American friends, close the files one by one with Iran. Start with nuclear, close it, then the others,” Fidan said.

“If you put them as a package, all of them, it will be very difficult for our Iranian friends to digest and to really process it and to go through this. And sometimes, it might seem humiliating for them. It will be very difficult to explain to not only themselves, but with the leadership.”

Fidan said Iran can fit in a “perfect place” in the regional order.

“They need to create trust in the region,” Fidan said of the Iranians. “They need to have attention to how they are perceived by the regional countries, because they are not going anywhere; we are not going anywhere.”

The top Turkish diplomat added that despite different ideologies, leanings and sects, countries in the region have to cooperate and work together within the nation-state system.

The full interview will air on Al Jazeera English on Thursday at 16:30 GMT.