FM issues warning as Iran missiles grow spillover fears

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has raised international alarm over Iran's recent missile strikes, warning that these actions, coupled with the Red Sea tensions involving the Houthi rebels, foreshadow an impending escalation of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Iran fired missiles late on Jan. 15 at what it claimed were Israeli "spy headquarters" near the U.S. Consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, and at targets linked to the ISIL in northern Syria.

Four civilians were killed and six injured after missiles hit an upscale area near the consulate in Irbil, the seat of Iraq's semi-autonomous region, according to the security council of the Kurdish regional government.

"What is happening in the Red Sea, Iraq and Syria is a harbinger that the spiral of war that started in Gaza will turn into a bigger vortex," Fidan said during a joint press conference with his Croatian counterpart, Gordan Grlic Radman, in the capital Ankara on Jan. 16.

As fears of a wider spillover from the Gaza conflict grow, Fidan recalled his earlier prediction that the Israel-Hamas conflict could lead to "either a bigger war or a bigger peace."

Expressing dismay at certain countries pushing the situation toward a more hostile environment, Fidan pledged Türkiye's commitment to pursuing diplomatic avenues for resolution.

"We will continue our work for peace at full speed, and we will make every effort to ensure that the massacres committed by Israel are dealt with both politically and judicially in the international community," he said.

Despite "de facto support" for the war by some leading international actors, Fidan remained cautiously optimistic about progress made in fostering a language of reconciliation. "The idea that a two-state...