Zarif: Turks are ungrateful, we stayed awake all night during the coup

In response to the harsh positions of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Iran's Foreign Minister referred to these two countries as "effective losers" and stated that Turkish officials are "short-memory" and "ungrateful," forgetting that the officials of the Islamic Republic stayed awake all night to support them during the coup in July. Mohammad Javad Zarif, in an interview with the Iran newspaper on Thursday, March 5, reacted to the statements made against the Islamic Republic at the Munich Security Conference, asserting that Iran is a "decisive" and "successful" actor in the region. He emphasized that Turkey and Saudi Arabia are "effective losers" whose policies in the region have reached a dead end. According to Zarif, these countries "have no power compared to the Islamic Republic," but "make noise in hopes of influencing Trump's policies." He added that the alignment of Trump's positions with these countries and the possibility of their synergy is what has led some analysts to predict that the Islamic Republic's path may become somewhat difficult in the future. Zarif, who previously referred to the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS as the "Coalition of Repentants," stated that this coalition is now a "coalition of failures." At the Munich Security Conference, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman harshly criticized Iran's role in the region. In response, Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, stated that "there is ample evidence indicating coordination between these two regimes on regional issues." Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also accused Iran of "sectarianism," attempting to "weaken Saudi Arabia and Bahrain," and "turning Iraq and Syria into two Shiite countries." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously stated that there is "Persian nationalism" in Iraq, which is associated with separatism, and that this must be stopped. Following these remarks, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador in Tehran to protest the statements made by the Turkish Foreign Minister and President. After this action, officials from both countries exchanged statements against each other. Meanwhile, Zarif noted that some regional actors, due to a "sense of failure," prefer to place a rival they have been defeated by in the position of the subject of dispute. He emphasized that Israel has "its own special situation," but Iran does not expect such behavior from its neighbors. He addressed Turkish officials, saying, "Friends seem to have short memories. They accuse Iran of sectarianism but forget that we stayed awake all night during the coup to support their government, which is not even Shiite. They are both short-memory and ungrateful toward those who have shown them kindness and support." Iran was one of the first countries to condemn the July 25 coup in Turkey and supported President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Meanwhile, several members of parliament quoted Iran's Foreign Minister as saying that he, along with Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, and Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, were monitoring developments in Turkey until morning. After the failed coup, the presidents of the two countries spoke by phone, and some analysts expressed hope that relations between the two countries would improve. The statements made by Iranian and Turkish officials against each other come at a time when the two countries, along with Russia, have been engaged in negotiations in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to establish a ceasefire in Syria and dialogue among Syrian groups. Turkey had previously insisted that resolving the Syrian crisis was impossible without the removal of Bashar al-Assad from power, but recently some officials from that country have stated that they no longer insist on Assad's departure.