Turkish vice president meets Iranian President Pezeshkian in Tehran

Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran.

Yilmaz traveled to Iran to attend a state ceremony for the country's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli attacks in late February.

In a statement on Turkish social media platform NSosyal, Yilmaz said Türkiye “deeply shares the pain” suffered by the “brotherly Iranian people” in the recent period.

“As Türkiye, we will continue contributing to efforts to make peace and stability permanent in our region, strengthen channels of dialogue, and support the normalization process after the war,” he said.

Yilmaz said Türkiye would keep working with Iranian counterparts to further develop bilateral relations in all areas, particularly the economy, trade, energy, and transportation.

He thanked Pezeshkian for receiving him and offered condolences to the Iranian state and people.

“I pray for Allah’s mercy on all our Iranian brothers who lost their lives, particularly Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and once again extend patience and condolences to the Iranian state and the friendly and brotherly people of Iran,” Yilmaz said.

Funeral ceremonies for the late supreme leader take place from July 3-9 in several cities across Iran.

Türkiye wants stability, not war in region

Speaking to reporters in Tehran, Yilmaz said Iran and Türkiye are “ancient countries” of the region and Türkiye shares the pain of the Iranian people.

He extended condolences for those killed in attacks on Iran and recalled Türkiye’s efforts to prevent the war.

“Iran and Türkiye are ancient countries of this geography. We have a common civilization and history. We are brotherly and neighboring countries. The pain of the Iranian people is our pain,” he said.

Yilmaz said he held a productive meeting with Pezeshkian and pointed to the memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and the US last month. He said Türkiye is working to help turn the memorandum into lasting peace.

“As the Republic of Türkiye, we do not want war in our region; we want stability. We want all societies in the region to live in peace and stability,” Yilmaz said.