Turkish Foreign Ministry dismisses report on regional cooperation against Iran

ANKARA

REUTERS Photo

The Turkish Foreign Ministry today dismissed a British newspaper report suggesting a role for Turkey in a regional cooperation against the “fundamentalist crescent,” which consists of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah.

“These are manipulative reports which have nothing to do with the reality,” a Turkish Foreign Ministry official told Hürriyet Daily News.

British daily the Sunday Times reported that Israel would agree to a joint effort with regional powers to counter Iran and the “fundamentalist crescent.”

Israel had been working toward a cooperative agreement in compliance with Turkey and three Arab states to implement an allied system of detection technologies to defend against Iranian ballistic projectiles, the Sunday Times reported.

The initiative, termed “4+1,” reportedly proposed joint efforts to be taken by Israel along with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan to share access to radar and anti-missile technologies, according to the Times.

Under the initiative, Israeli technicians would gain access to data from radar technologies in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates in return for allowing experts from its partners to tap into Jerusalem’s anti-missile and advanced radar defense systems, the report said.

The plan, brokered by the United States, aims to create a “moderate crescent” in the region as a counterweight to the “fundamentalist crescent” consisting of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah, the report said.

Israel viewed “4+1” as an ambitious plan presented by Washington as “the Americans are working on a regional alliance to deter and contain Tehran,” the Times reported an Israeli official as saying.