Turkey has no plans to cooperate on nuclear projects with Iran, according to the Turkish energy minister.
Responding to remarks by Mohammad Javad Larijani, a foreign affairs adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khameini, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters Wednesday that Turkey would not cooperate with Iran in building any nuclear power plants.
“Iran is an important neighboring country,” he said, according to Reuters. “We have oil and gas trade, but cooperation in the area of nuclear power stations is not currently on our agenda.”
Istanbul-based Turkish theologian and philosopher Adnan Oktar has repeatedly reassured Israeli rabbis in quiet back-channel meetings over the past several months that Turkey is not interested in escalating hostilities against the Jewish State, and will “protect Israel” against any threat from Iran.
Iran and Turkey have maintained friendly relations for a long time, and over the past several years have tightened economic ties.
Larijani told reporters during a briefing in New York on Tuesday that Iran would be willing to share its nuclear technology with its neighbor.
“Turkey is for years trying to have a nuclear power plant but no country in the West is willing to build that for them,” he said. He admitted, however, that Iran had no “concrete proposal” for nuclear cooperation with Turkey or any other nation.
Larijani slammed the report by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as “a disgrace to the professionalism of this institution,” insisting that Iran is continuing its drive towards nuclear development solely for domestic purposes.
The IAEA detailed evidence that makes it clear the Islamic Republic is engaged is creating nuclear weapons of mass destruction, as several international intelligence agencies – including Israel’s – have warned for years.