Iran is not in favor of Turkey’s establishment of military posts inside Syria, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Monday, adding that the territorial integrity of Tehran’s key regional ally should be respected, Reuters reported.
“We are against Ankara’s establishing of military posts in Syria. … The issues should be resolved by diplomatic means. … Syria’s [territorial] integrity should be respected,” Mousavi told a weekly news conference, broadcast live on state TV.
On Thursday,
Turkey agreed in talks with US Vice President Mike Pence to a five-day pause in an offensive in northeastern Syria to allow time for Kurdish fighters to withdraw from a “safe zone” Ankara aims to establish near its border with Syria.
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday that Ankara would press on with its offensive in northeastern Syria and “crush the heads of terrorists” if a deal with Washington on the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters from the area was not fully implemented.
A close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iran has offered to engage Syrian Kurds, Syria’s government and Turkey in talks to establish security along the Turkish-Syrian border following Turkey’s military incursion into northern Syria to fight Kurdish forces.