Iran FM in Turkey for talks on Iraq

Ankara and Tehran both fear that US forces might allow Iraqi Kurds to seize northern Iraq’s oil capital of Kirkuk, a move that would boost their demands for autonomy and could have a knock-on effect in the larger Kurdish communities in Turkey and Iran.

However, Kharazi has already signalled that Iran does not want Ankara to send troops into Kurdish controlled northern Iraq. On Thursday he said that while Iran shared Turkey’s concerns, "we do not approve of Turkish forces entering Iraq."

"We are obviously worried and we have told our Turkish friends not to dispatch their forces," he said.

Ankara considers it has the right to move troops into northern Iraq to ensure its border security and to counter any Iraqi Kurdish bid for independence.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who visited Ankara on Wednesday, has also expressed opposition to any Turkish unilateral intervention, fearing it might precipitate a "war within the war" between Turkish forces and Iraqi Kurds.