Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrives in Turkey for twice-delayed talks aimed at ironing out past differences and trying to halt the spread of the Israel-Hamas conflict, AFP reports.

Raisi’s visit to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan comes with the crisis in Gaza starting to enflame tensions and escalate fighting across the Middle East.

Planned talks in Ankara in early January were called off when twin blasts claimed by Islamic State group killed 89 people at the shrine of assassinated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Qasem Soleimani.

A trip he had planned for November was cancelled because of conflicting schedules of diplomats involved in consultations over the Gaza crisis.

The Turkish presidency said the two leaders would appear at a press conference after holdings talks and chairing a meeting of their top ministers during the one-day visit.