The Iranian regime remains firmly in the crosshairs of American bombers. As President Trump mulls whether to strike, Turkey is using every available channel to halt a military intervention. President Erdogan has personally offered to mediate between Tehran and Washington. At the same time, Turkish authorities have tightened their grip on exiled Iranian opposition figures.

Turkey’s sudden support for Iran is not born of friendship. Over the past two decades, the two countries have repeatedly found themselves on opposing sides. In the Syrian civil war, Iran sent Shi’a proxies to prop up the dictator Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey armed and trained Sunni rebel groups. Ankara’s push for dialogue is driven by a fear of regional destabilisation. Should the US strike, Turkey worries Iran will descend into chaos or an all-out civil war. This could prompt over a million people to flee – likely towards the Turkish border.

Turkey can hardly handle another such wave. There are still almost three million Syrians in the country who fled their own civil war. Hosting the largest number of refugees in the world has cost Erdogan dearly among the electorate. If another wave of........

© The Spectator