Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan told the Associated Press (AP) on March 14 that while there is no serious initiative to resume peace negotiations between the warring US and Iran, he believes Tehran is open to back-channel talks.

Fidan, in an interview, said that “the conditions are not very much conducive” to diplomacy as things stand. The Iranians, he added, “feel betrayed” given that for a second time the US attacked them while active negotiations were taking place over their nuclear programme.

However, Fidan also said: “I think they are open to any sensible back-channel diplomacy.”

Prior to the war, Turkey urged US President Donald Trump not to enter into a conflict, though since the war has started Ankara has criticised both the US and Israel and Iran for missile strikes, objecting to retaliatory actions against Gulf states that host US bases in Iran’s case. Fidan told the AP he has been trying to persuade the Iranians to halt those attacks.

On March 13, the defence ministry of Turkey, which hosts Nato bases, said a third missile from Iran had been shot down in Turkish airspace by Iranian forces.

After each missile incident Iranian officials have insisted that Iran did not fire at Turkey. However, Fidan said available data showed that the missiles did indeed come from Iran.

He ruled out a military response, saying Nato defence’s were effective against such incidents and Ankara’s “primary objective” was to stay out of the conflict.

“I know that we are being provoked and we will be provoked, but this is our objective,” he said. “We want to stay out of this war.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 13 made a similar remark, saying: "Our main priority is to keep our country away from this pit of fire."

In a statement, Iran’s embassy in Ankara, said: "No ammunition has been launched from Iran towards Turkey.”

It added that Tehran was "ready to establish a joint technical team for a detailed investigation of this matter [of the missiles] in order to resolve any ambiguity."

Iran has claimed the missiles were the result of “false flag” operations by its enemies.

"The first one you can explain it away, the second one possibly, but the third? No. This cannot be accidental," Sinan Ulgen, a senior fellow with Carnegie Europe, told AFP on March 13.