Turkey and Iran have mutually suspended day-trip crossings at their border, Turkey’s trade minister said Monday as Israeli-US strikes continued to pound the Islamic Republic.
“Same-day passenger crossings at all three customs gates have been mutually suspended,” Trade Minister Ömer Bolat wrote on X.
But he insisted there was “no extraordinary situation” at the three crossings along their shared 500-kilometre (300-mile) frontier.
“Iran is allowing its own citizens to enter their country via Turkey. … We are also allowing our own citizens and third-country nationals to enter our country from Iran,” he said.
Despite the strikes, which began on Saturday morning, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said later that day that Turkey had not experienced any problems “in terms of border security.”
Iran’s neighbors have long feared that a new round of strikes on the country could destabilize the entire region, unleashing a possible influx of refugees.
Also Saturday, Turkey’s Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi spoke with his Azerbaijani and Iraqi counterparts to discuss “strengthening cooperation.” They also share a border with Iran.
Turkey currently hosts more than 74,000 Iranians with residence permits and some 5,000 refugees.
© Agence France-Presse