Turkey and Iran

TURKEY AND IRAN

We have also provided separate profiles on 2 major Middle East powers, Turkey and Iran, which don't fit into the 4 main sub-regions above.

Turkey and Iran have a significant influence across the whole of the MENA region. In particular, Iran and its proxies play a significant and, according to critics, disruptive role in the politics of neighbours including Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon.

IRAN

Iran is currently in discussion with world powers over the 2015 Nuclear Deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). This was a 159-page agreement Iran signed with 5 world powers - China, France, Russia, Germany and the United States. At first, in 2017, the Trump administration certified Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA but then, in May 2018, the US decided to withdraw from the deal. President Donald Trump claimed he could reach a better deal but left office without having done so. Analysts believe that Iran has come closer to developing a nuclear weapon in subsequent years.

TURKEY

Turkey has also been playing an increasingly active role in the Horn of Africa. The skylines of Djibouti and Mogadishu are today crowned by the minarets and domes of Turkish built Ottoman style grand mosques. It shows the extent to which Turkey has increased its profile in East Africa. 

Of course, Turkey is the bridge between Europe and Asia – stretching from the eastern Balkans to the borders of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Armenia and Georgia. Since 2005, Turkey has been negotiating to become a full member of the European Union. In 1995, it signed a customs union agreement with the EU and was recognised as a full candidate for EU membership at the Helsinki European Council meeting of December 1999. But talks have subsequently ground to a standstill amid allegations by the EU that Turkey has moved away from it and has introduced policies that break the Copenhagen criteria for EU membership.

In 2017, Turkey also upset NATO allies with its purchase of the S-400 mobile ground to air missile system from Russia, which is said to pose a threat to the US F-35 multirole combat jet. Turkey’s interventions in Syria to confront Kurdish militants have also increased tensions in the region and led to fierce skirmishes with Syrian government troops.