Iran launches surprise drill near Turkey border

Iranian state television says the Islamic Republic has launched a surprise military drill with army special operations forces near the country's border with Turkey.

The exercise comes amid Iran's opposition to Turkey's planned invasion of northern Syria against Syrian Kurdish fighters there. The Syrian Kurds were US allies in the war against the Islamic State group.

The sudden Iranian drill was announced on Wednesday. The TV report says it's overseen by Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of Iran's army.

However, the state TV didn't mention the expected Turkish operation nor elaborate on the number of troops taking part in the drill in Qushchi in Iran's Western Azerbaijan province. The area is about 620 kilometers, or 385 miles, northwest of Tehran.

Iran and Russia are both key allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad's long-embattled government. Both have troops on the ground in Syria.

While they may publicly oppose a Turkish incursion into Syria, they probably don't mind an operation that diminishes the Kurdish forces.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is accusing the United States of playing "very dangerous games" with the Syrian Kurds, whose fighters were top US allies in the war against the Islamic State group in Syria.

Lavrov said during a visit to Kazakhstan on Wednesday that the US first propped up the Syrian Kurdish "quasi state" in northeastern Syria and is now withdrawing its support.

He says that "such reckless attitude to this highly sensitive subject can set fire to the entire region, and we have to avoid it at any cost."
The top Russian diplomat stressed that both Damascus and the Syrian Kurds have said they are "open to dialogue, and we will do our best to help launch talks on this subject."
The local authority, known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, says: "We call upon our people, of all ethnic groups, to move toward areas close to the border with Turkey to carry out acts of resistance during this sensitive historical time."
Altun says Turkey seeks to "neutralise" Syrian Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria and to "liberate the local population from the yoke of the armed thugs."
He wrote: "The Turkish military, together with the Free Syrian Army, will cross the Turkish-Syrian border shortly."