Turkey’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, revealed Monday that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally intervened to prevent a U.S. strike on Iran—and even “rebuked” President Donald Trump during a phone call the two held over the weekend.
At a press conference, Kalin said Erdoğan made clear to Trump Ankara’s firm opposition to military action against Iran, fearing it would trigger a broader regional escalation. According to Kalin, the Turkish president’s message was that any step that could drag the Middle East into another conflict must be avoided.
Alongside the leader-to-leader contacts, Turkey’s intelligence chief revealed that Ankara is working with other mediators to finalize an agreement designed to prevent the strike. “We’re talking about a seven-point agreement—if it’s accepted in the coming days, there won’t be a strike,” Kalin said. He did not, however, detail the terms of the agreement or identify all the parties involved in the talks.
Kalin closed with a warning about the potential consequences of a security deterioration in the region. “Any small incident now could drag the region into an escalation that will be hard to control,” he said, calling on the parties involved to exercise restraint to prevent a large-scale confrontation.