TEHRAN — Tehran has reacted to the recent developments in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, saying it is fully monitoring the recent developments in that area.

“We are carefully monitoring the developments on the ground and regional outcomes of the developments in Idlib, and we will continue our efforts to end the current tensions,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Friday, Mehr reported.

Mousavi said Iran is ready to take every measure to help reduce tensions.

He underlined the need for the sides to properly manage the situation so as to ease the tensions immediately.

The spokesman further said Iran, in light of the previous decision by leaders of the Astana peace process to hold the next summit in Tehran, emphasizes the continuation of its efforts to hold the summit in the current critical situation, and believes that the summit may be a continuation of the efforts to combat terrorism, avoid any harm to civilians and resolve political conflicts in an effective step.

Mousavi also denounced efforts by some countries that try to tarnish the real outcomes of the summit.

On Thursday, state news agency Anadolu published images of Turkish airstrikes on Syrian troops, claiming that 1,709 Syrian targets had been attacked within the last 17 days of Ankara’s stepped-up military campaign in the province.

Also on Thursday, Russian and Syrian media outlets reported that Turkish military forces have been firing shoulder-fired missiles towards Syrian and Russian military aircraft providing air cover for Syria's anti-terrorist operations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone Friday to discuss the implementation of de-escalation agreements in Idlib.

"The conversation was detailed and devoted to the necessity to do everything," Lavrov told reporters at a news conference in Moscow. "There is always room for dialogue." 

Lavrov said that the two countries were ready to continue coordination in the province.

A senior Russian lawmaker has warned that a full-scale Turkish operation in Syria will end badly for Ankara after Russia's Defense Ministry said Turkish soldiers killed in Syria were targeted after being deployed alongside terrorists.

Russia's Interfax news agency reported that Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian upper house of parliament's international affairs committee, made the warning against a possible escalation of Ankara's deployments in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on Friday.

MH/PA