TEHRAN– Iran’s FM Spokesman Ghasemi called on Turkey to end its major offensive in northwestern Syrian city of Afrin, saying the operation would bring back instability and terrorists to the Arab country., according to the Mehr News Agancy.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi made the remarks in his weekly press conference on Monday, adding “Ankara needs to reconsider its policy on [Afrin].”

TEHRAN– High-ranking officials from Iran, Russia, Iraq, and Syria held talks about a range of security issues in Baghdad and stressed the need to boost cooperation between the four countries in the fight against the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) and other terrorist groups, according to the Tasnim News Agancy.

During the Sunday meeting of the Intelligence Center of Iran, Russia, Iraq, and Syria chaired by Iraq’s Director of Military Intelligence Major General Saad Mezher Al-Alaq, the participants discussed activities of the four countries in the security and intelligence fields and counter-terrorism.

MOSCOW - Turkey's border guards are indiscriminately shooting and forcibly returning Syrian asylum seekers, who are trying to cross into Turkey, the Human Rights Watch said.

According to the watchdog, Syrians are trying, in particular, to escape fighting in Idlib and Afrin and find asylum in Turkey, however, the border remains closed to all but critical medical cases, Sputnik reported.

"Syrians fleeing to the Turkish border seeking safety and asylum are being forced back with bullets and abuse… As fighting in Idlib and Afrin displaces thousands more, the number of Syrians trapped along the border willing to risk their lives to reach Turkey is only likely to increase," Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said as quoted in the press release on Saturday.

TEHRAN–IRGC deputy commander says that Iran military advisors are in Syria and Iraq because those two countries are Iran’s strategic depth, adding Iran developed its missile program in response to foreign threats.

IRGC Deputy Commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami said on Iranian state TV on Saturday evening that Iran developed its defense missiles system in response to the enemies’ threats as they have never taken a military option against Iran off the table, according to the Mehr News Agancy.

TEHRAN– Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani criticized Washington’s “shameless” hypocrisy in talking about world peace all the while threatening other countries with its new nuclear arsenal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made the remarks on Sunday via a video conference broadcasting live at the unveiling ceremony of ten cultural centers and museums dedicated to the Sacred Defense in ten provinces across the country, Mehr News reported.