The Iranian government was quick to respond to the attempted coup in neighbouring Turkey on July 16, with Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, praising Turkey's defence of democracy.

For all the differences Tehran and Ankara have had in recent years – in particular finding each other on opposing sides of the Syrian conflict – it isn’t in the Islamic Republic's interest to have a destabilised Ankara next door.

Zarif hailed the Turkish nation's defence of democratic values, adding coups in the region are doomed to fail, according to Tasnim News Agency.

“Deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability, democracy & safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity & prudence are imperative,” Zarif wrote on his Twitter page.

Following events closely, the Iranian foreign minister continued his tweets saying, “Turkish people’s brave defence of democracy & their elected government proves that coups have no place in our region and are doomed to fail.”

AFP Tehran Bureau also reported at 11:00am that Zarif spoke with his Turkish counterpart on the current security situation in Ankara and Istanbul.

Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, also re-tweeted Zarif's comments on the coup, according to his semi-official Twitter account.

The Iranian president also called on Iran's National Security Council for an extraordinary meeting in the early hours of the morning to monitor the situation next door.

Flights Cancelled, Routes Closed

All flights to and from Iran's Imam Khomeini Airport (IKA) were also cancelled to Istanbul's Ataturk International on the 16, according to FlightStats.com.

Iran's land borders to Turkey are also on high alert, according to one Iranian Canadian-based journalist Saeed Soltanipour, who reports that Iran's Revolutionary Guard are now guarding  the land border.

The confirmation of all border crossing closures came at 9:00 by Iran's IRNA news agency, who reported three border crossings namely Bazargan Border in North, Razi in Khoy and Sarv in Orumyieh, which are official borders between Iran and Turkey, were closed on Saturday.

Petrochemical exports hit

On July 17, Iran's Mehr News reported that there has been a temporary hiatus in Iran’s petrochemical and polymer products exports to Turkey due to border closure between the two countries.

At the present time, Turkey remains as one of the largest buyers of Iranian petrochemical and polymer products, especially various grades of linear low- and high density polyethylene, polypropylene and polypropylene.