ANKARA: The Iranian ambassador to Ankara acknowledged yesterday that Tehran enjoys close ties with Turkey’s intelligence services, a sign of warming relations between the two regional powers.
The comments by Alireza Bikdeli come just weeks after US newspaper claims — hotly denied by Ankara — that Turkey blew an Israeli-Iranian spy ring to the authorities in Tehran.
Bikdeli told reporters in Ankara that there was “improved cooperation” between the Iranian intelligence and security services and Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT).
And he said there were “no grounds” for allegations that Shiite Iran was spying on Turkey, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country.
Jordan couple in UAE is new victims of Mers virus
ABU DHABI: Two new cases of the potentially deadly Mers respiratory virus, including a heavily pregnant woman, have been reported in the United Arab Emirates, media yesterday cited health authorities as saying.
A 38-year-old Jordanian resident was hospitalised with breathing problems and diagnosed to be a carrier of Mers, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus.
His wife, who is eight months pregnant, was also hospitalised after being diagnosed as suffering from the disease, health authorities in Abu Dhabi said.
In July, the authorities reported that there had been seven Mers cases in the oil-rich Gulf federation in which foreign residents comprise 80 percent of the population.
The World Health Organisation says it has been informed of 160 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection worldwide since September last year, including 68 deaths. Saudi Arabia is the worst affected country, accounting for 55 deaths out of 130 confirmed cases.
Agencies
