Turkey ‘astonished’ by Iranian charges of IS support

Turkey on Sunday says it is “astonished” by Iranian accusations that Ankara is supporting Islamic State and involved in oil dealing with the jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic says in a statement there was nothing in Tehran’s accusations to take “seriously.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday he had warned his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani over some Iranian media reports that he and his family were involved in oil trade with IS jihadists.

Erdogan said that he spoke with Rouhani on the phone and told him: “You will pay a high price if it continues like that.” He added that the Iranians later removed the news from their website.

Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Bilgic confirms the telephone conversation between the two presidents and said any attempts to distort its content were “not only immoral but also equal to hiding the truth from neighboring Iranian people.”

— AFP