Erdoğan Accuses Israel of Sabotaging US-Iran Peace Deal

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Israel of actively working to sabotage the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, an interim agreement signed on June 19 between the United States and Iran. Speaking to the Justice and Development Party in Ankara, Erdoğan stated that Israel cannot tolerate the possibility of peace and has spent ten days attempting to undermine the accord, which mandates an immediate end to military operations across all fronts, including Lebanon.

Erdoğan characterized the Israeli administration as a network of slaughter and asserted that stability in the region would only be established despite Israeli provocations. He credited Turkish diplomacy and coordination with allies for keeping Türkiye out of the conflict. Concurrently, the Iranian Foreign Ministry asserted that the United States is responsible for Israel's ongoing ceasefire violations in Lebanon.

In a separate development, President Donald Trump told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte that he successfully persuaded Erdoğan to remain neutral during the war with Iran. Trump claimed that Erdoğan was a leading candidate to join the conflict, potentially on the side of Iran, but agreed to stay out of it following a personal request. Trump asserted that he made similar requests to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, both of whom also remained neutral.