Iran says Turkey's Syria offensive must 'end now'

Key Damascus ally Iran is renewing its call on Ankara to end a deadly assault on northeastern Syria, as Turkey pressed a cross-border offensive against Kurdish forces.

“The imperative now is to end the incursion into #Syria,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif posts on Twitter.

Iran last week called for an immediate halt to the offensive that was launched on October 9 after the United States announced it would withdraw all its troops from the area.

Turkish soldiers and Turkey-backed Syrian fighters gather on the northern outskirts of the Syrian city of Manbij near the Turkish border on October 14, 2019, as Turkey and its allies continue their assault on Kurdish-held border towns in northeastern Syria. (Zein Al RIFAI / AFP)

Since then, Syria’s massively outgunned Kurds have forged a deal with Damascus, allowing regime soldiers to redeploy in the Kurd-controlled region for the first time since 2012.

Despite international outcry over its assault, Turkey has vowed to pursue its offensive, slamming the “dirty deal” between President Bashar Assad’s regime and Kurdish forces.

— AFP