Turkey Rejects Iranian 'Threats' on Syria

Turkey on Tuesday rejected remarks by a top Iranian defense official that Ankara would be the country next affected by the conflict in Syria and that it was a U.S. stooge.

"We strongly condemn the groundless accusations and extremely inappropriate threats against our country delivered by some Iranian officials, including those by Iranian chief of staff Hassan Firouzabadi," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Firouzabadi had accused Turkey, along with other neighboring countries, of helping "the belligerent objectives of the Great Satan, The United States."

"If they accept this method though, they should realize that after Syria it will be the turn of Turkey and other countries," he said in a statement posted Monday on the Sepahnews, the official Guards website.

Turkey and Iran are at the opposite ends of the Syrian crisis. Ankara has been at the forefront of international criticism against Damascus's deadly response to the uprising, while Tehran is one of Syrian President Bashar Assad's few allies.