Cavusoglu in Iran after Moualem's Talk on Conditions of Normalization with Turkey

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meets with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Isfahan on Friday morning. Anadolu Agency
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meets with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Isfahan on Friday morning. Anadolu Agency
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Cavusoglu in Iran after Moualem's Talk on Conditions of Normalization with Turkey

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meets with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Isfahan on Friday morning. Anadolu Agency
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meets with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Isfahan on Friday morning. Anadolu Agency

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, have held the first round of their bilateral talks in Isfahan on Friday morning.

During the talks, Cavusoglu expressed satisfaction with his visit to Iran and the historical and cultural city of Isfahan, and said Ankara is ready to deepen and strengthen mutual ties with Iran in various political, economic and cultural fields.

Zarif, in turn, said bilateral ties between Iran and Turkey have been moving in the right direction.

He said the visit of his Turkish counterpart is highly significant for developing strategic relations and the signing of a document on political consultations between the Iranian and Turkish foreign ministries.

The Iranian FM also referred to the recent meeting between the presidents of Iran and Turkey in Tajikistan and the agreements reached earlier between the two sides, expressing Iran’s readiness to increase the volume of bilateral trade.

The two officials also exchanged views on issues in energy, banking, and tourism.

Zarif visited Ankara in April and met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following a visit to Damascus where he held talks with the head of the regime, Bashar al-Assad. The Iranian FM discussed efforts to normalize ties with regional countries including Turkey and Syria.

Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem renewed the necessity of pulling out Turkish forces from Syria and halting support to terrorist groups for the sake of normalizing ties between Damascus and Ankara. 

During a TV interview on Wednesday, Moualem reiterated the remarks he made in Beijing on Tuesday that Syria doesn’t seek a military confrontation with Turkey.

“Idlib is a Syrian province and the operations the Syrian army is conducting are on Syrian soil and a legitimate right towards liberating the land,” he said.

Moualem added that he was placing no conditions other than those providing the basis to any ties between neighboring countries.



Biden Says Israel Recovers Bodies of 6 Hostages in Gaza, Including Goldberg-Polin

(FILES) An image grab from a video released by the media office of the Palestinian group Hamas on April 24, 2024, shows an Israeli-American man who identified himself as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, one of the hostages abducted from the Nova music festival in southern Israel during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, speaking to a camera. (Photo by Hamas Media Office / various sources / AFP)
(FILES) An image grab from a video released by the media office of the Palestinian group Hamas on April 24, 2024, shows an Israeli-American man who identified himself as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, one of the hostages abducted from the Nova music festival in southern Israel during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, speaking to a camera. (Photo by Hamas Media Office / various sources / AFP)
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Biden Says Israel Recovers Bodies of 6 Hostages in Gaza, Including Goldberg-Polin

(FILES) An image grab from a video released by the media office of the Palestinian group Hamas on April 24, 2024, shows an Israeli-American man who identified himself as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, one of the hostages abducted from the Nova music festival in southern Israel during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, speaking to a camera. (Photo by Hamas Media Office / various sources / AFP)
(FILES) An image grab from a video released by the media office of the Palestinian group Hamas on April 24, 2024, shows an Israeli-American man who identified himself as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, one of the hostages abducted from the Nova music festival in southern Israel during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, speaking to a camera. (Photo by Hamas Media Office / various sources / AFP)

Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including that of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, US President Joe Biden said late on Saturday.
"Earlier today, in a tunnel under the city of Rafah, Israeli forces recovered six bodies of hostages held by Hamas," Biden said in a statement issued by the White House. "I am devastated and outraged."
The Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday that the bodies of Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino had been brought to Israel.
Hamas and its armed wing did not immediately comment on the accusations, Reuters said.
At least 40,691 Palestinians have been killed and 94,060 injured in Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, the enclave's health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
The war was triggered when Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
On Saturday, clashes broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank as Israel pushed ahead with a military operation in the flashpoint city of Jenin. Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids since Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the West Bank in months.
Goldberg-Polin, captured at a music festival near Gaza, appeared in a video released by Hamas in late April.
"He had just turned 23. He planned to travel the world," Biden said. His parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, "have been courageous, wise, and steadfast, even as they have endured the unimaginable," Biden said.
Biden vowed that "Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages."