Also, variables such as overcoming sanctions, complementarity of economies, and developing political relations into a “strategic partnership” can help expand relations.
Historical, geographical, cultural, political, and economic factors have played a role in Iran-Turkey relations. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke of “strengthening relations with neighbors”, and the idea of creating “a strong region”.
On the one hand, Tehran has emphasized Iran’s priority in foreign policy in strengthening relations with its neighbors, especially Turkey. It has made efforts to pursue an opportunistic policy, create a “balance” in line with national interests, and economic development, and achieve peace and security in the region.
In recent months, visits and consultations between officials from both sides have maintained a positive trend. At the height of verbal tensions over Syria, the Turkish Minister of Trade visited Tehran.
The periodic meeting of Iran-Turkey political consultations in Ankara on bilateral political, trade, energy, cultural, consular cooperation and exchange of views on various regional issues such as Palestine, Lebanon, the Caucasus, neighbors, and the Islamic world were issues that expressed the serious will of the officials to develop relations and continue close consultations.
In addition, during Ibrahim Kalin’s recent visit to Iran, the head of the Turkish mission, important bilateral and multilateral security and political issues such as Syria were discussed. Meanwhile, Ankara seems to be seeking a win-win deal with Tehran in line with its plan to contain the Kurds.
According to Hakan Fidan, the fall of the Syrian regime could have a very positive impact on Iran-Turkey relations. From this perspective, the opposing pole positions of Iran and Turkey in Syria have been eliminated, and Syria is no longer a disputed region, which presents an opportunity to develop relations.
In addition to emphasizing the role of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in this area, Iran and Turkey emphasize bilateral cooperation, strong opposition to the forced displacement of Palestinians, and the need to continuously support the rights of the Palestinian people.
From Turkey’s perspective, it will not cut off its economic and trade relations due to the sanctions imposed on Iran.
Turkey considers Iran as a strategic source for supplying crude oil and natural gas, energy security, and contributing to its role as a regional energy hub.
Despite Tehran’s energy diplomacy goals and Ankara’s plans to create energy transit routes, Tehran and Ankara continue to consider multiple energy cooperation formulas such as Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkey and swaps of energy and gas.
Cooperation in oil, condensates and petrochemicals, energy, and electricity between the two countries could be strengthened.
There are no precise and official statistics on Iranian investment in Turkey, but many Iranian citizens, have invested at least $11 billion, especially in the real estate sector. In contrast, Turkish companies have invested about $2 billion in Iran.
Developing banking relationships, doing business with the national currency, and adopting appropriate policies can also provide a platform for the development of annual business to 30 billion dollars.
Iran and Turkey still have various potentials for further cooperation in the form of regional and international institutions and organizations, etc.
The recent 29th meeting of the Iran-Turkey Joint Economic Committee led to important agreements, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding aimed at expanding bilateral trade and cooperation, including plans to modernize and reconstruct border crossings and facilitate smoother transportation.
In January 2025, the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development announced that a comprehensive cooperation model for transportation and transit between Iran and Turkey would be developed within the next three months. Iran acts as Turkey’s gateway to the East and Turkey as Iran’s gateway to the West.
Multilateral cooperation models, the signing of a Turkey-Iran-Qatar transit agreement through Iran, and the UAE-Iran-Turkey corridor and the expansion of transportation and transit cooperation are very beneficial.
Trade in agricultural goods between Turkey and Iran has seen a significant 30 percent growth in 2024, and the possibility of joint investments, knowledge exchange, and increased cooperation in food security, agriculture, and animal husbandry has also increased significantly.
Joint development of border crossings, transportation routes, removal of transit restrictions, and tariff barriers is seen as further strengthening Iran-Turkey cooperation.
Despite international sanctions against Iran, Turkey has emphasized its commitment to maintaining strong trade relations, and Turkey is one of Iran’s most important trading partners. The value of trade exchanges between Iran and Turkey is expected to reach $16 billion by March 2025.
Along with the presence of about 500,000 Iranians in Turkey, it is also important to pay attention to the social and cultural ties. The two sides recently paid attention to literary diplomacy and literary tourism. The year 2025 has been declared the “Iran-Turkey Cultural Year” to provide a valuable opportunity to deepen cooperation, and interaction between the two countries’ elites, think tanks, and media, and to help reduce misconceptions.
Challenges and Outlook
The volume of trade between Turkey and Iran has decreased from $10 billion in 2016 to about $6 billion in 2023. Although the previous agreement in December committed to achieving a trade target of $30 billion in the next five years, there are also numerous challenges to increasing the volume of relations.
In the past year, after the TRT chairman’s remarks about harassing Iran, the peak of challenges and confrontations with statements by Iranian officials in response to Turkey’s role in the developments in Syria was observed.
Turkey previously criticized Iran’s stance on the PKK and provided evidence of Iran’s support for the PKK, but the Iranians rejected all the documents. Also, the way Turkey deals with the Iraqi Kurds, terrorism, relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the amount of water withdrawal from the Aras, Tigris, and Euphrates rivers are still the focus of the dispute between Iran and Turkey. The consequences of Turkey’s approach in the watershed also affect Iran’s national interests.
However, although maximum pressure on Iran is important in Donald Trump’s foreign policy, Turkey considers itself less obligated to follow the Western and Washington path in the new world conditions with tactical alliances and strategic uncertainty.
Also, variables such as overcoming sanctions, complementarity of economies, and developing political relations into a “strategic partnership” can help expand relations.
Therefore, Iran and Turkey, with about 534 kilometers of common border, and despite different foreign policy priorities and sometimes conflicting interests, the differences have never reached the level of conflict behavior, and the deep relations between them for more than five centuries are a model of sustainable cooperation in the region.
With the continuation of consultations between officials at high levels and the establishment of cooperation mechanisms, it seems that Ankara and Tehran are currently pursuing two options: intense competition and the depletion of the capabilities of both sides or “controlled” competition and interaction and space for cooperation.
Samyar Rostami is a political observer and senior researcher in international relations
