伊朗周三在其与土耳其边境附近发起了未经宣布的演习，伊朗伊斯兰共和国警告其邻国不要推进其在叙利亚北部的军事行动，俄罗斯批评美国在该地区制造了一个潜在的致命局面。
伊朗陆军总司令阿卜杜勒·拉希姆·穆萨维少将监督了被描述为旨在“衡量其军队在该国西北部的准备状态、机动性和速度”的突袭演习。穆萨维在一份官方声明中解释说，演习的结果是积极的，但没有具体说明演习的确切性质。
穆萨维说:“这对伟大的伊朗国家来说是一个好消息，它的士兵和儿童已经做好充分准备，执行他们的任务，对抗任何可能的敌人运动。”他说，军队“正处于战备状态的顶峰”
“给敌人的信息是，如果他们做了错误的计算，他们应该知道这片土地上的孩子们随时随地都准备用他们的全部力量进行抵抗，”他补充说。
10月9日，土耳其士兵守卫在土耳其和叙利亚边境的土耳其一侧。军事人员和车辆聚集在边境附近，准备将土耳其控制范围扩大到叙利亚北部，叙利亚库尔德人目前占据了叙利亚北部的大片地区，土耳其视其为威胁。
此次演习正值叙利亚政府的盟友伊朗继续对亲反对派土耳其计划入侵叙利亚北部表示担忧之际。这次行动的目标是库尔德人民保护部队(YPG)，这是美国支持的叙利亚民主力量的主要组成部分，也是伊斯兰国激进组织(伊斯兰国)，安卡拉认为这两个组织都是恐怖组织。
伊朗总统哈桑·鲁哈尼在内阁会议上表示:“我们已经明确表示，只有在叙利亚军队存在的情况下，才有可能在叙利亚北部和土耳其南部边境建立安全，我们必须为叙利亚在这些地区的军事存在提供一切理由。”。“美国人必须离开该地区，库尔德人应该与叙利亚军队合作，叙利亚军队实际上是他们自己的国家
他补充说:“今天选择的道路和正在幕后达成的协议不会给该地区带来好处，我们呼吁我们的朋友和兄弟土耳其及其政府在这些问题上给予更多关注和耐心。”。
美国反对伊朗在叙利亚的存在，并因被指控犯有战争罪而否认政府，重新定位了它的力量据报道，土耳其的袭击是从周三对库尔德民兵阵地的袭击开始的。美国就其对即将到来的袭击的看法发表了相互矛盾的声明，唐纳德·特朗普总统暗示他支持土耳其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安长期威胁的军事行动，而五角大楼称他的行动是“单方面的”，并表示不同意。
自2015年以来，叙利亚民主力量一直是美国领导的打击叙利亚伊斯兰国(ISIS)的主要当地合作伙伴，当时的焦点开始从试图推翻叙利亚总统巴沙尔·阿萨德(Bashar al-Assad)的日益伊斯兰反对派转移开来，阿萨德在大约同一时期通过俄罗斯的军事干预获得了重大推动。自那以后，伊斯兰国在很大程度上被对手美国领导的联盟和亲政府运动击败。
“不同群体之间的战斗已经持续了数百年。美国不应该在中东。把我们的50名士兵赶出去了。土耳其必须接管被欧洲拒绝归还的被抓获的伊斯兰国战士。对我们来说，愚蠢的无休止的战争正在结束！”，特朗普周三在推特上写道。
随着反对派和叙利亚叛乱的其他圣战分子也被广泛击败，政府和叙利亚民主力量成为该国的两大派别。双方数月的谈判至今未果，莫斯科和大马士革都指责华盛顿事实上支持库尔德自治。
9月25日，一名俄罗斯士兵在哈马省苏然检查站外站岗。自2015年以来，在俄罗斯、伊朗和各种同盟民兵组织的军事支持下，巴沙尔·阿萨德总统(他的脸在背景海报上可见)从叛军和圣战分子手中夺回了叙利亚的大部分地区，只剩下伊德利卜在反对派手中，叙利亚约三分之一的国土在叙利亚民主力量的控制之下，后者面临来自土耳其同盟叛军的新威胁。马克西姆·波波夫/法新社/盖蒂图片社
俄罗斯外长拉夫罗夫在与哈萨克斯坦外长举行的联合记者招待会上表示:“美国人必须明白，过去几年在叙利亚东北部展开的进程直接违反了联合国安理会关于尊重叙利亚领土完整和主权的决议的要求。”。
“美国人在那里组织准国家结构，确保他们的生计和活力，并非常积极地推动库尔德问题，这引起了传统上生活在这些领土上的阿拉伯部落的反对。“这是一场非常危险的游戏，”他补充道，并呼吁“对他们不一致、矛盾的政策进行重大改变。”
尽管莫斯科与政府支持者德黑兰站在叙利亚长期冲突的不同一边，但莫斯科一直与安卡拉合作，作为三边和平进程的一部分，该进程以哈萨克斯坦首都阿斯塔纳为基地，后来更名为努尔苏丹。尽管俄罗斯对土耳其的批评有所保留，拉夫罗夫回应鲁哈尼说，唯一的解决办法是“通过大马士革中央政府和传统上生活在这些地区的库尔德社区代表之间的对话”
据叙利亚官方通讯社星期二报道，叙利亚外交部“最强烈地谴责土耳其政权的侵略性声明和侵略意图以及在叙利亚边境的军事集结，这公然违反了国际法和联合国安理会决议，所有这些决议都强调尊重叙利亚的统一、安全和主权”。声明警告说，如果土耳其继续进攻，安卡拉将丧失其在阿斯塔纳进程中的地位。
IRAN HOLDS MILITARY DRILLS NEAR TURKEY, TELLS IT TO STOP SYRIA ATTACK AS RUSSIA ACCUSES U.S. OF 'DANGEROUS GAME'
Iran launched unannounced drills Wednesday near its border with Turkey as the Islamic Republic warned its neighbor not to move forward with its military operation in northern Syria and Russia criticized the United States for setting up a potentially deadly scenario in the region.
Iranian army chief Major General Abdul Rahim Mousavi oversaw what was described as surprise exercises designed to "measure the readiness, mobility and speed" of his forces in the country's northwest. Without specifying the exact nature of the maneuvers, Mousavi explained in an official release that the results of the drills were positive.
"This is a good message for the great Iranian nation that its soldiers and children are fully prepared to carry out their missions to counter any possible enemy movement," Mousavi said, saying the troops are "at the peak of their readiness."
"The message to the enemies is that if they make the wrong calculations, they should know that the children of this land are ready to resist with their full power at any time and place," he added.
Turkish soldiers stand guard on the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria on October 09, in Akcakale. Military personnel and vehicles gathered near the border ahead of a campaign to extend Turkish control of more of northern Syria, a large swath of which is currently held by Syrian Kurds, whom Turkey regards as a threat.
The drills came as Iran, an ally of the Syrian government, continued to voice concerns toward pro-opposition Turkey's planned incursion into northern Syria. The operation planned to target both the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the major component of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, and the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), both of which Ankara considers terrorist organizations.
"We have made it clear that the solution to establishment of security in the northern Syrian and southern Turkish borders is possible only with the presence of the Syrian army and we must provide all grounds for the Syrian military presence in these areas," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said when in a cabinet meeting, according to his office. "The Americans must leave the region, and the Kurds should cooperate with the Syrian Army, which is actually their own country
"The path chosen today and the agreements that are happening behind the scenes will not benefit the region, and we call on our friend and brother Turkey and its government to pay more attention and patience in such matters," he added.
The U.S., which is opposed to Iran's presence in Syria and disavows the government due to alleged war crimes, has repositioned its forces out of harm's way ahead of the Turkish assault, which reportedly began Wednesday with strikes on Kurdish militias positions. The U.S. has offered conflicting statements about its views toward the coming attack, with President Donald Trump suggesting he was in support of Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan's long-threatened military actions, while the Pentagon described his moves as "unilateral" and signaled disapproval.
The Syrian Democratic Forces have been the major local partner of the U.S.-led fight against ISIS in Syria since 2015, when focus began to shift away from an increasingly Islamist opposition trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who received a major boost via a Russian military intervention around that same time. ISIS has since been largely defeated by the rival U.S.-led coalition and pro-government campaigns.
"Fighting between various groups that has been going on for hundreds of years. USA should never have been in Middle East. Moved our 50 soldiers out. Turkey MUST take over captured ISIS fighters that Europe refused to have returned. The stupid endless wars, for us, are ending!," Trump tweeted Wednesday.
With the rebels and other jihadis of Syria's insurgency also widely defeated, the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces were left as the two major factions in the country. Months of negotiations between the two have so far been unsuccessful and both Moscow and Damascus have blamed Washington's de facto support for Kurdish self-rule.
A Russian soldier stands guard outside a checkpoint in Suran, Hama province on September 25. With military backing from Russia, Iran and various allied militias, President Bashar al-Assad (whose face is seen on a poster in the background) has reclaimed most of Syria from rebels and jihadis since 2015, leaving only Idlb in opposition hands and about a third of the country under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces, who face a new threat from Turkey allied insurgents.
"Americans must understand that the processes that have unfolded in the north-east of Syria over the past few years are a direct violation of the requirements of the UN Security Council resolution on respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Syria," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a joint press conference with his Kazakh counterpart.
"The Americans organized quasi-state structures there, ensured their livelihoods, vitality, and very actively promoted the Kurdish issue in a way that aroused opposition among the Arab tribes traditionally living in these territories. This is a very dangerous game," he added, calling for "serious changes in their inconsistent, contradictory policies."
Despite being on different sides of Syria's protracted conflict, Moscow, along with fellow government supporter Tehran, has worked with Ankara as part of a trilateral peace process based in the Kazakh capital of Astana, since renamed Nur-Sultan. Though Russia has been reserved in its criticism toward Turkey, Lavrov echoed Rouhani in saying that the only solution would be "through a dialogue between the central government in Damascus and representatives of the Kurdish communities traditionally living in these territories."
The Syrian Foreign Ministry, for its part, "condemns in the strongest possible terms the aggressive statements and aggressive intentions of the Turkish regime and the military build-up on the Syrian border which is a flagrant violation of international law and a flagrant violation of UN Security Council resolutions, all of which emphasize respect for unity, safety and sovereignty of Syria," as reported Tuesday the official Syrian Arab News Agency. Should Turkey move forward with its attack, the statement warned Ankara would forfeit its position in the Astana process.
