Turkiye’s FM Fidan says Israel ‘looking for opportunity’ to attack Iran

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says he has conveyed concerns of possible Israeli attack to leadership in Tehran.Published On 24 Jan 2026Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said there were signs that Israel was seeking an opportunity to attack Iran, warning such a move could further destabilise the region.“I hope they find a different path, but the reality is that Israel, in particular, is looking for an opportunity to strike Iran,” Fidan told Turkish broadcaster NTV in an interview broadcast on Friday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Why Qatar is betting on diplomacy with Iranlist 2 of 4Why is South Africa upset about Iran joining BRICS naval drills?list 3 of 4Trump says ‘armada’ of US warships is heading towards Iranlist 4 of 4US sanctions Iran ‘shadow fleet’ it says fuels violent protest crackdownend of listAsked specifically whether this assessment applied to both the United States and Israel, Fidan stated that Israel, in particular, was seeking such an opportunity, the Turkiye Today news outlet reported.The foreign minister added that he had conveyed concerns directly to Iranian officials during a recent visit to the country.“When I went to Tehran in recent days, I told them everything about the process as their friend,” Fidan said. “And you know, a friend speaks bitter truths,” he said, according to Turkiye Today.Fidan’s warning followed after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in a phone call on Thursday that Turkiye was opposed to any foreign interventions in Iran and that it valued its neighbour’s peace and stability.A senior Iranian official told the Reuters news agency on Friday that Tehran would treat any attack by its enemies “as an all-out war against us” – the latest sabre-rattling in an escalating war of words between Washington and the Iranian leadership.On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that he had sent an “armada” of naval ships towards the Gulf region with Iran in its sights, once again ramping up rhetoric against Tehran after cooling his comments last week after apparently backing away from threats to attack Iran amid widespread antigovernment protests.