TEHRAN – A U.S. agreement to set up a safe zone in northern Syria is a “provocative and worrisome” act, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has said.

The United States and Turkey last week agreed to set up a joint operations center for a proposed zone along Syria’s northeast border.

“Such kind of measures, like other actions by the American officials, are destabilizing and will create insecurity, apart from being instances of interference in Syria’s internal affairs,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said late on Sunday.

“The Americans’ behavior in the northeast of Syria is a blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and contravenes the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter,” Mousavi added.

“The Americans’ behavior in northeast of Syria is a blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and contravenes the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter,” the Foreign Ministry says.

“It is obvious that the security concerns in Syria’s northern border would be addressed under bilateral agreements with the neighbors and through good offices, and there is no need for meddling of foreign powers,” the spokesperson concluded, according to the Foreign Ministry website.

Northeastern Syria is currently under the control of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), largely comprising of the People’s Protection Units (YPG). Turkey has been pressing to establish a 30-40 km deep zone within Syria, seeking the removal of the YPG from the area. But the U.S. has tried to limit the safe zone to 10 km.

SP/PA