NEW YORK, Nov 12: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has offered to play the role of a mediator between Iran and the new US administration of president-elect Barack Obama, using its growing role in the Middle East to bridge the East-West divide. “We are ready to be the mediator,” Mr Erdogan said in an interview with New York Times.

He described the note of congratulations sent to Mr Obama by the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week as “a step that has to be made use of”.

Mr Obama said during his campaign that he would consider holding talks with Iran, something the Bush administration has long opposed.

“We watch the relations between Iran and US with great concern,” Mr Erdogan said. “We expect such issues to be resolved at the table. Wars are never solutions in this age.”