US seeks Türkiye's help to mediate in reducing Middle East tensions

The United States is asking Türkiye and other allies that have ties with Iran to persuade it to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, the US ambassador to Türkiye said.

Ambassador Jeff Flake made the comments as the region braces for possible attacks by Iran and its allies after the assassination of senior members of the Hamas resistance group and Hezbollah.

Iran has joined Hamas in blaming Israel for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the Palestinian group's political leader. Israel has not claimed responsibility.

"We ask all of our allies that have any relations with Iran to prevail on them to de-escalate, and that includes Türkiye," Flake said at a round-table with journalists in Istanbul as he comes to the end of his posting in Türkiye.

"They're doing what they can to make sure that it doesn't escalate," he said of Washington's Turkish interlocutors, adding that they "seem more confident than we are that it won't escalate".

Flake noted the "useful role" that Türkiye had played in what was the biggest prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia since the Cold War in Ankara at the start of August.

In an interview with Reuters in June, Flake had said that Türkiye remained firmly anchored in the West and its partnership with the United States has never been stronger.