Turkey's Erdogan says 'no doubt' Iran will overcome war at OIC summit in Istanbul

Conference comes after no breakthrough was reached at Iran-E3 talks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Istanbul. AP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday spoke in support of Iran and said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is “the biggest obstacle to regional peace”.

“I have no doubt that with thousands of years of solidarity and resilience Iran will be able to overcome challenging days,” he said at the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation meeting in Istanbul.

The timing of Israel's strikes – as momentum picked up in Iran's nuclear talks with the US – was an attempt by Israel to “undermine the negotiations process”, he said. The attacks show Mr Netanyahu “does not want issues to be resolved diplomatically”, Mr Erdogan added.

He urged countries with influence over Israel not to listen to its “poison” and instead seek a solution to the fighting through dialogue.

He also called on Muslim countries to increase their efforts to impose punitive measures on Israel on the basis of international law and UN resolutions.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also attended the OIC meeting. He arrived in Istanbul on Saturday to discuss the war with Israel, the Tasnim news agency reported.

"What we are doing right now is exercising our legitimate right to self-defence against the act of aggression," Mr Araghchi said on the sidelines of the summit. "In order for us to come back to diplomacy, the aggression should be stopped."

Mr Araghchi held talks with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on the sidelines of the meeting, Tasnim reported.

About 40 officials have joined the weekend gathering of the OIC, as Israel and Iran continue to exchange missile strikes. “At this meeting, at the suggestion of Iran, the issue of the Zionist regime's attack on our country will be specifically addressed,” the news agency quoted Mr Araghchi as saying.

No talks during attacks

Mr Araghchi met his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, in Geneva on Friday. The European summit with Iran failed to deliver a breakthrough despite all sides agreeing to continue discussions that could end the war. Iran said it would only consider diplomacy once Israel ends its bombing campaign.

“Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once the aggression is stopped,” Mr Araghchi said after the meeting. “I make it crystal clear that Iran's defence capabilities are non-negotiable.”

Speaking shortly after the meeting, US President Donald Trump appeared to dismiss European diplomatic efforts. “We've been speaking to Iran and we'll see what happens,” he said, adding that he believed the talks in Geneva had not been successful.

“Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe, Iran wants to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help on this one.”

Israel began its assault in the early hours of June 13, claiming Iran was close to developing a nuclear weapon. The exchange of attacks marks the biggest confrontation between the countries.

Iran had agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal with global powers to curb uranium enrichment and grant international inspectors access to nuclear sites, in return for relief from economic sanctions.

However, after Mr Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the agreement during his first term, Tehran responded by enriching uranium to 60 per cent purity – just below the 90 per cent threshold needed for weapons-grade material – and has limited the access of inspectors to its nuclear sites.

Ministers from the Arab League are expected to release a statement following their meeting, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported.