Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly accused Israel of trying to destroy the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, calling ...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly accused Israel of trying to destroy the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, calling the current Israeli government "addicted to war" during a joint appearance in Istanbul with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. According to Reuters, Erdogan said Israel should not be allowed to "drown our geography again in the smell of gunpowder and blood," warning that the Israeli government is actively working to torpedo the Washington-Tehran agreement. He argued that any peace solution in the Middle East must draw strength from the will and contributions of countries in the region, or it cannot be sustainable. Turkey, a NATO member sharing a border with Iran, has repeatedly blamed Israel for attempting to undermine the U.S.-Iran talks, which Pakistan is helping to mediate. Ankara has also condemned Israeli military operations in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria over the past two years. Alongside his remarks on Israel and Iran, Erdogan used the Istanbul meeting to push for deeper Turkey-Pakistan cooperation across energy, transportation, defense, and technology sectors, with a bilateral trade target of $5 billion on the table. The comments reflect Ankara's increasingly assertive positioning as a regional power broker, placing itself squarely against Israel and alongside the countries pushing for a U.S.-Iran deal. #Erdogan #USIranDeal #MiddleEast