Tehran, Iran

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.

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In making the mediation offer during an interview shot on Monday (October 7), Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif referred to a 21-year-old security accord that required Damascus to stop harbouring Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants waging an insurgency against the Turkish state. Turkey has said that pact was never implemented.

The United States has ramped up its efforts to persuade Ankara to halt the incursion, saying Ankara was causing "great harm" to ties and could face sanctions.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday the 1998 accord could only be implemented if there was a political settlement to Syria's eight-year-old war. He also said implementing the Adana pact would require the Syrian government to be in control of northeastern Syria - which it is not.

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Iran, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has regularly urged Turkey to respect Syria's territorial integrity and avoid military action in northeastern Syria.