On the second day of his official visit to Tehran, Turkish President Abdullah Gul accepted a demonstrators' invitation to join them.

He agreed, but when his guards asked Iranian security to lay on an escort for the convoy to bring Gul to the greet the crowds, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stepped in. He told the security service to prevent the Turkish president getting anywhere near the demonstrators – even if this led to a diplomatic upset with Ankara.

Gul gave up the plan, but the tension between him and Ahmadinejad was palpable when they addressed a joint news conference later in the day and their appearance was cut short, Debka reported.