While Iranian protesters are being beaten, imprisoned, and killed by the Islamic Republic, Turkey’s government is busy running diplomatic interference for the mullahs. Ankara’s effort, marshaled by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, is not an aberration or a miscalculation. Rather, it is a revealing confirmation of Turkey’s long-standing ideological sympathy for Islamist regimes and movements across the Middle East.

Turkish officials cloak their defense of Tehran in warnings about “regional instability,” arguing that the collapse of the Islamic Republic could create a dangerous power vacuum. But beneath this familiar talking point lies a simpler truth: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan does not want to see Iran fall — especially if its downfall would weaken a fellow Islamist regime and strengthen Israel’s strategic position. 

An Iran free of nuclear ambition and terrorist proxies would be a major victory for Israel and the broader Western security order. For Erdogan, that outcome is unacceptable.

To be sure, concerns about the risks of military confrontation with Iran are not illegitimate. Even Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party has expressed unease about escalation. Yet, Fidan’s public statements go far beyond mere caution. They amount........

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