Iran, Turkey Call for Meeting to Avert Spread of Israel-Hamas War

Turkey and Iran on Wednesday called for a regional conference aimed at averting the spread of the Israel-Hamas war.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian a day after Iran's top diplomat met Hamas leaders in Qatar.

Iran has warned that the armed groups it supports in the region could attack Israel in light of its war on Hamas.

Fidan said Turkey was pushing for an immediate cease-fire because "it is not difficult to predict that this spiral of violence will grow" without a permanent solution to the war.

"We do not want the human tragedy in Gaza to turn into a war that affects the region's countries," Fidan said.

The Iranian foreign minister "shared with us that there are strong indications that other armed elements in the region may intervene in the conflict if conditions do not change," Fidan said. "A cease-fire and peace have become more essential."

Amirabdollahian said a peace conference involving "Muslim and Arab" countries should be held "as soon as possible."

The Iranian minister later met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

"If the war against the defenseless people of Gaza is not stopped immediately, there is a risk of expanding the scope of war and conflict in the region at any moment," Amirabdollahian said in remarks carried by the Iranian foreign ministry.

"It is necessary for Islamic countries to take immediate and effective action to end the war crimes of the Zionist regime, lift the siege of Gaza and send humanitarian aid, and in this regard, the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the necessity of holding an urgent meeting of heads of Islamic and Arab countries," he said.

Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7 and, killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli officials.

The bombing campaign has killed more than 8,796 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.