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Iran rejects Turkey military presence in Iraq

March 10, 2021 at 2:36 pm

Iraqi riot police protect the Turkish embassy in Baghdad on February 18, 2021 [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images]

Iran rejects Turkey’s military presence in Iraq, the New Khaleej reported the senior foreign adviser to the Iranian Parliament Speaker saying yesterday.

“We do not accept Turkey’s military presence in Iraq despite our belief that it is not planning to expand its existence there,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said.

Recently, several Iranian officials have criticised Turkish manoeuvers in Iraq, claiming they pose threats and violate Iraqi sovereignty.

“We reject the Turkish military presence in Syria and Iraq, and we consider Ankara’s policies towards Damascus and Baghdad to be wrong,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Press TV late last month.

READ: Turkey summons Iran envoy amid row on military involvement in Iraq

Turkey has summoned Tehran’s ambassador to Ankara and told him that Turkey expects Iran to support its war on terror in these countries.

Iran backs the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in the civil war that erupted in the country in 2011, it also supports numerous militias and armed groups in Iraq.