Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Alireza Bigdeli says intelligence cooperation between Tehran and Ankara is in a “very, very good state,” and is bothering Western powers and the Israeli regime.
Speaking to the Turkish daily Hürriyet on Monday, Bigdeli said the intelligence cooperation between the two countries were at a level that should be between strong neighbors and brothers.
“Why do they [Western countries] not like it when Turkish and Iranian intelligence agencies cooperate? They expect Turkey to have good cooperation with Mossad or CIA. … Turkish and Iranian agencies always have cooperation, and they should have so, and they will have so. It is normal between neighbors to have that, but they treat it with doubt,” Bigdeli said.
Commenting on media reports that the Turkish government in 2012 disclosed to Iranian intelligence authorities the identities of spies working for Israel’s Mossad, Bigdeli said, “I’ve been here[ in Turkey] for only seven months. The claims in that story go back a year. I have no information regarding them.”
The Iranian envoy also pointed to cooperation between Iranian and Turkish agencies during the rescue of the Turkish pilots who was kidnapped in Lebanon, and the Iranian pilgrims kidnapped in Syria.
Bigdeli noted that the different foreign policies adopted by the two countries regarding the conflict in Syria have no impact on Tehran-Ankara bilateral relation.
“Unlike what is assumed by others, the relations between the two countries are so deep that an issue like Syria cannot have that great of an impact. If it had been two other countries that experienced the last few months, they could have gone through serious crises. But the warmth between us has never gone away,” Bigdeli added.
Rouhani said the two neighboring countries have great capacities for better ties which should be used to strengthen mutual relations at bilateral, regional, and international levels.
