Turkey and Iran halt same-day passenger crossings at three border gates as Israeli-US strikes continue, though Ankara insists the situation remains normal.

ANKARA: Turkey and Iran have mutually suspended same-day passenger crossings at all three customs gates along their shared border.

Trade Minister Omer Bolat announced the suspension on social media platform X, stating it was a mutual decision taken amid ongoing Israeli-US strikes on Iran.

He insisted there was “no extraordinary situation” at the three crossings along the 500-kilometre frontier.

Bolat clarified that Iran is still allowing its own citizens to enter from Turkey, while Turkey is permitting its citizens and third-country nationals to enter from Iran.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Turkey had not experienced any problems “in terms of border security” despite the strikes which began that morning.

Iran’s neighbours have long feared that a new round of strikes on the country could destabilise the region and potentially unleash a new influx of refugees.

Also on Saturday, Turkey’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci spoke with his Azerbaijani and Iraqi counterparts to discuss “strengthening cooperation”, as both nations also share a border with Iran.

Turkey currently hosts more than 74,000 Iranians with residence permits and approximately 5,000 refugees from the country.

 The Sun Malaysia