Recep Tayyip Erdogan won praise from Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad on Tuesday for his public criticism of Israel as the Turkish and Iranian leaders mounted a display of friendship in sharp contrast to the recent low in Turkish-Israeli relations .

“Your clear stance against the Zionist regime [as Iran terms Israel] had a positive impact in the world which undoubtedly made all nations happy,” Mr Ahmadi-Nejad told his guest, in comments reported by Iran’s official media.