ASPEN, Colo. — Akif Çağatay Kılıç, a top foreign policy and security advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, downplayed the threat posed to the region by Iran’s nuclear program at the Aspen Security Forum, while also repeatedly sidestepping questions about the status of Turkey’s Russian S-400 missile defense system and efforts to acquire F-35 fighter jets.

“I don’t perceive that we have a nuclear threat to the level that is being talked about, but we are closely monitoring it, and we’re talking to our Iranian colleagues and friends on how they perceive to be working on their nuclear program — civil nuclear program,” Kılıç said.

He continued to defend his country’s decision to acquire the S-400 system.

Kılıç also argued that the alternative energy corridors through the region that have been proposed to avoid the Strait of Hormuz are not a viable option so long as the war continues.

Kılıç said that Turkey is working with the U.S. to resolve the “legal issue” around the F-35s and S-400s, emphasizing that the leaders of both countries have expressed a desire to move the F-35 sale forward.

Asked directly about whether Turkey will offload its S-400s, Kılıç prevaricated and did not offer clear answers.

“It’s not easy always to navigate these things. But we’re trying to work with our American partners and allies to find a way that both countries can live with and go towards the future,” Kılıç said.