No accountability, no reasonable statement from Iran or Israel: Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has explained that both Israel and Iran have issued “different” statements regarding Tel Aviv's reported attack on Iran early on Friday, and that there is a lack of clarity.

"Currently, Israel is saying different things, and Iran is likewise putting forward different views, that is, there is no accountability and there is no reasonable statement regarding what happened," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul on Friday.

"In the statements made by Iran, you truly cannot say they are telling the truth. You cannot say that at all for Israel," Erdogan said, also emphasising the absence of unequivocal statements from the United States.

According to US media reports, Israel carried out a "limited strike" inside Iran early on Friday morning.

There have been no official comments from Israel yet.

Iran has denied and downplayed the alleged attacks. For more on this story, click here.

Tensions escalated on Saturday after Iran launched a drone and missile attack against Israel, during which Tehran fired 300 drones and missiles in response to an April 1 attack on its consulate in Syria by Tel Aviv.

Israel's attack reportedly killed seven Iranian military officers, including two top-ranking commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

US veto on Palestine's full UN membership

Speaking to reporters, Erdogan also criticised Washington's decision to veto Palestine's bid for full UN membership.

In the UN Security Council, “we saw the US standing with Israel by vetoing Palestine's full membership bid," he added.

"While everyone stands by Palestine (regarding its full membership in the UN), unfortunately, the US demonstrated its stance by siding with Israel," he said.

Furthermore, describing the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's upcoming visit to Türkiye “as a sort of a return visit,” Erdogan said that the visit will be a “significant milestone” in bilateral relations.

"Regarding this important stage, we will have the opportunity to discuss how we can take Türkiye-Greece relations to a much better position," he said.


Responding to questions about the upcoming visit of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Türkiye on Wednesday, Erdogan said the two leaders would discuss many issues including political, military, economic, and commercial matters," as well as efforts to improve bilateral relations.