Turkey on Wednesday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump of supporting the anti-government protests in Iran.
Foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, was quoted as saying by broadcaster CNN Turk that Turkey was against foreign interventions in Iran.
Cavusoglu said Turkey had not made any assurances to the U.S. in the resolution of a months-long row which had led to the two countries suspending visa services.
Cavusoglu would meet his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel on Saturday.
Similarly, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call that he hoped the protests in Iran would end in a few days, sources in Erdogan’s office said.
Sources said in the phone call, Erdogan said Rouhani had taken an appropriate stance by saying demonstrators should not violate the law while exercising their right to peaceful protests.
Also, Pro-government rallies in several Iranian cities drew thousands of marchers on Wednesday, following six days of rare unrest that took the country’s leaders off guard.
State television broadcast live pictures of rallies in Kermanshah, Ilam and Gorgan, where marchers waved Iranian flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Hours earlier, Khamenei accused Iran’s foes of fomenting the unrest.
Earlier, marchers voiced their support for Khamenei, chanting: “The blood in our veins is a gift to our leader” and “We will not leave our leader alone”.
The protests, which began over economic hardships, have taken on a rare political dimension, with a growing number of young people calling on Khamenei to step down.
They are the biggest since unrest in 2009 that followed the disputed re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
At least 21 people have been killed during the unrest, including two members of the security forces.
No fewer than 450 protesters have been arrested in the capital Tehran in recent days, and hundreds of others were detained around the country, according to officials.
A judicial official said some could face the death penalty.
In an attempt to control the flow of information and calls for anti-government gatherings, Tehran authorities have restricted access to the Telegram messaging app and Instagram, owned by Facebook Inc.
High prices, alleged corruption and mismanagement are fuelling the anger.
