When Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz landed in Tehran earlier this month to attend the funeral of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he received a warm welcome from officials of the Islamic Republic.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also hosted Yilmaz and his delegation during the visit.
Pezeshkian thanked Turkey for helping to prevent an Israeli plan to foment an armed insurrection by Kurdish groups in western Iran, a source familiar with the visit told Middle East Eye.
Senior Turkish officials had sought to convince their US counterparts that the plan, devised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was unrealistic and could threaten Turkey’s national security.
US President Donald Trump indirectly suggested on several occasions that Ankara had even considered entering the war to prevent the emergence of another Kurdish separatist entity on its borders, following its experience in Syria.
