Turkey finds itself in an unexpectedly tough state of affairs following the assaults on Iran by a Pakistan-based militant group, the Iranian retaliation on Pakistani soil and the Pakistani counter-retaliation in opposition to Iran.
When tensions between Iran and Pakistan escalated into missile assaults on one another’s territory, a average response was Turkey’s solely affordable selection. Whereas Ankara is unwilling to confront its “enemy” Tehran, a commerce and vitality accomplice that can also be a regional rival, it will probably additionally hardly threat Pakistan, a detailed pal, a significant importer of Turkish arms and Ankara’s important supporter in worldwide boards.
Between a rock and a tough place
Turkish-Iranian relations have had their ups and downs for many years (if not centuries), however issues turned bitter within the early 2010s because of the Syrian Civil Conflict. Whereas Tehran supported President Bashar al-Assad’s regime as a part of its “axis of resistance” imaginative and prescient, Ankara sided with armed opposition teams.
