Iran informs Türkiye in advance of its operation against Israel

A Turkish diplomatic source has said that Iran informed Türkiye in advance of its planned operation against Israel.

Washington had conveyed to Tehran via Ankara that any action it took had to be "within certain limits", the Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters on April 14.

Türkiye, which has denounced Israel for its campaign on Gaza, said earlier on April 14 that it did not want a further escalation of tensions in the region.

The Turkish source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had spoken to both his US and Iranian counterparts in the past week to discuss the planned Iranian operation, adding Ankara had been made aware of possible developments.

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Fidan to make clear that escalation in the Middle East was not in anyone's interest.

"Iran informed us in advance of what would happen. Possible developments also came up during the meeting with Blinken, and they [the US] conveyed to Iran through us that this reaction must be within certain limits," the source said.

Iran launched an unprecedented large-scale drone and missile attack at Israel on April 13 night, in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic complex in Syria, bringing the long-running shadow war between the two sides into the open and raising the prospect of full-blown regional conflict.