Turkey and Iran agreed on intelligence sharing and cooperation in the fight against terror during a visit by Iranian Chief of General Staff Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri to Ankara on Wednesday.
Speaking to Iranian media on Thursday, Bagheri said the two countries agreed on intelligence sharing and cooperation on many issues in the military, defense and security areas during his visit to Ankara, the T24 website reported.
Underlining that he visited Ankara with the approval of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Baqeri noted that this was the first of its kind, with an Iranian chief of general staff visiting Turkey. He also invited his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, to Iran to continue the cooperation between the two countries.
Baqeri was accompanied by Commander of the Ground Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brig. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, the head of Iran’s border guard command Gen. Qasem Rezaei and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Rahimpour, as well as several other military commanders during his visit.
The Iranian delegation had talks with their Turkish counterparts as well as other top state officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Speaking on a much-debated independence referendum to be held by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq on Sept. 25, Baqeri said the referendum would be the beginning of new tensions and would affect neighboring countries negatively.
“That’s why the two countries insist that the referendum is not possible and should not be held,” he said.