Erdogan Tells Trump to Hold Off on Iran Strikes, Offers Turkey as Broker

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing back hard against another round of strikes on Iran. He said he took Ankara's worries straight to US President Donald Trump and made clear Turkey is ready to step in as a broker if the sides will talk. "We hope common sense will prevail and that our region will step back from the brink," Erdogan said.

Erdogan didn't hide what he's seeing. He said there are signs of renewed tensions building, and warned that more fighting would only deepen instability across the region — fallout he said would reach Europe and Asia too.

He also talked up his sit-down with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev after the two met on Victory Day in Karabakh. Erdogan described Turkey and Azerbaijan as "two brotherly countries bound by unbreakable ties."

Tehran is keeping its own channels open. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Iran stays in touch with Pakistan, Qatar and every mediator working on its negotiations with the United States, and thanked those nations for their "efforts and constructive endeavors." But he drew a line: Iran will only sign and implement a deal that "fully secures the national interests and legal rights of the Iranian nation."

Baghaei also confirmed IAEA inspectors toured the Bushehr nuclear power plant days earlier, and said Iran's mission in Vienna keeps "professional and permanent" relations with the agency. Still, he ripped the IAEA over what he called "inappropriate" positions since the US military operation against Iran, saying Tehran can't cooperate with it as it would under normal conditions.

The pressure isn't only coming from Washington and Tehran. The United Arab Emirates condemned what it called a Houthi attempt to target "several areas" in Saudi Arabia on Monday, calling it a "flagrant violation" of the kingdom's sovereignty and reaffirming Abu Dhabi's "full solidarity" with Riyadh. Saudi authorities had texted Riyadh residents warning of a "hostile aerial threat" and telling them to stay indoors.