Turkey detains 6 suspected spies for IRGC, local media reports, as it urges US-Iran talks

Turkey’s authorities have detained six people suspected of spying for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by monitoring military facilities and other strategic sites across the country, local media reports.

Reports of the operation came as Turkey’s foreign minister urged Washington to start nuclear talks with Iran in an interview, as US warships arrived in the region amid fears of a strike over Tehran’s protest crackdown.

“It’s wrong to attack Iran. It’s wrong to start the war again. Iran is ready to negotiate on the nuclear file again,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan tells Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television.

“My advice has always been to our American friends: close the files one by one with the Iranians. Start with the nuclear issue and close it. Then move on to the others,” he says.

In a phone call today, Fidan and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi evaluated “efforts to reduce tensions in light of recent developments in the region”, a Turkish diplomatic source says.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Fidan says problems with Iran should be tackled individually.

“Do not treat them as a package. If you put everything together as one package, it will be very difficult for our Iranian friends to digest and truly process it,” he says. “In some cases, it may even seem humiliating for them. It would be hard to explain not only to themselves but also to their leadership.”

In the arrest operation, security forces carried out simultaneous raids in five provinces, including Istanbul and Ankara, following a joint investigation by the counter-terror department and Turkey’s intelligence agency, state-run TRT television reported.

The suspects allegedly conducted reconnaissance and surveillance around Incirlik air base in the southern province of Adana, which hosts US forces, says the broadcaster.

One of the six detainees was of Iranian origin, the private DHA news agency reports.

The group is accused of transmitting intelligence and logistical information to Iranian intelligence operatives, TRT says.

Investigators also reportedly uncovered evidence that the suspects had monitored the shipment of drones through Turkey for use in other countries.