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ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish and Iranian military leaders held talks on Wednesday over cooperation in the Syrian conflict and counter-terrorism, officials said, during a rare visit to NATO-member Turkey by the Islamic Republic's military chief of staff.

Turkey's ties with Washington have been strained by U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, and the visit by Iranian General Mohammad Baqeri is the latest sign that Ankara is increasing cooperation with other powers such as Iran and Russia.

Baqeri met his Turkish counterpart on Tuesday and Turkey's Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli on Wednesday in what Turkish media said was the first visit by an Iranian chief of staff since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

He was due to meet President Tayyip Erdogan later on Wednesday.

Turkey and Iran have supported rival sides in Syria's six-year-old conflict, with Iran-backed fighters helping President Bashar al-Assad to drive back rebels battling to overthrow him, including some supported by Ankara.

Turkey is concerned that the Syrian chaos has empowered Kurdish forces who it says are closely tied to the long-running insurgency in its southeastern regions, as well as Islamic State fighters who have waged attacks inside Turkey, and is working with Iran and Russia to reduce the fighting in some areas.

An Iranian source said Baqeri was accompanied by the head of the ground forces of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran's most powerful security entity.

"There have been no such visits between the two countries for a long time, but considering regional developments and security issues - border security and the fight against terrorism - there was a need for such a visit," Baqeri told Iranian state television on arrival on Tuesday.

The Iranian source said that, in addition to the war in Syria, the two sides would discuss the conflict in Iraq as well as dealing with Kurdish militants in the Turkish-Iranian border region, where Turkish media say Turkey has started building a frontier wall.

Turkey, Iran and Russia agreed in May to set up "de-escalation zones" in Syria to try to stem the fighting in some parts of the country, including the northern province of Idlib, which borders Turkey and has since been overrun by jihadists linked to a former al Qaeda affiliate.

That has thrown into question any suggestion that the three countries could deploy a force to police the Idlib region.

"The negotiations regarding the Idlib issue are still ongoing," Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkish broadcaster TRT Haber on Wednesday.

"After the Iranian chief of staff, the Russian chief of staff will also come to Turkey," he added.

Turkey has said for months that it is close to buying an S-400 missile defence system from Russia, and Erdogan said in July that the deal had already been signed.

Cavusoglu said Russia understood Turkey's sensitivities about arming Kurdish fighters better than the United States, although he said U.S. officials had informed Turkey that the most recent shipments to the YPG did not include guns.

"The United States gives us reports about how many weapons they have given to the YPG every month," he said. The latest "said they gave armoured vehicles and a bulldozer, but no guns."

Turkey's stepped-up military talks with Iran and Russia coincide with a major oil and gas deal involving firms from the three countries.

The Turkish firm Unit International said this week it has signed a $7 billion agreement with Russia's state-owned Zarubezhneft and Iran's Ghadir Investment Holding to drill for oil and natural gas in Iran.

Turkey is also discussing transporting more goods through Iran to the Gulf state of Qatar, which is locked in a dispute with its neighbours Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Editing by Dominic Evans and Alister Doyle

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Iran's military chief in rare visit to Turkey for Syria talks - Reuters UK

ISTANBUL The Islamic State has stepped up its efforts to target Iran, releasing a stream of propaganda, vowing more bloodshed and boosting recruitment among the countrys Sunni minority groups.

Last week, Iranian authorities said they arrested more than two dozen people who planned to bomb religious sites with smuggled explosives. The Islamic State then released a new video in which a Farsi-speaking militant threatened to cut the necks of Irans majority Shiites, whom the group regards as apostates.

Two months earlier, the Islamic State staged its first major attack in Iran, with militants opening fire at the nations parliament and outside the shrine of its revolutionary leader. The assault, stunning in both its symbolism and execution, left 18 people dead and caught Iranian security forces off-guard.

Iran is a target because of the cash, guns and troops it has poured into the battle against the jihadists, whose lightning ascent in Iraq and Syria three years ago threatened Irans security. But now, Iranian advisers and an army of Iran-backed militias are fighting the Islamic State from central Iraq to southeastern Syria.

The escalation could inflame a region already beset by conflict and stoke domestic instability in Iran. There, marginalized Sunnis have grown increasingly receptive to the Islamic States appeal. Situated along Irans porous borders, the communities, which make up about 10 percent of Irans population of 80 million, may make fertile ground for a jihadist group working to replenish its ranks.

Iran is fighting the Islamic State on multiple fronts, and Iraq and Syria is certainly one of them, said Dina Esfandiary, a MacArthur fellow at the Center for Science and Security Studies at Kings College in London. But the fight against the Islamic State inside Iran has become even more important.

Suffering decades of neglect, Irans Sunni communities are a good target for the Islamic State, said Esfandiary, who co-wrote a paper on Irans policies toward the militants. Its a population ripe for recruitment, she said.

[Islamic State claims new reach into Iran with twin attacks in Tehran]

Indeed, Irans Sunni populations hail mainly from two ethnic minorities, including the Kurds who live along the Iraq border in the west, and the Baluch community in the southeast near Pakistan. In both places, poverty, repression and black-market economies have allowed Sunni radicalism to creep in and take root.

Baluch areas in particular are severely underdeveloped, according to the U.S. State Departments 2016 human rights report on Iran, and unemployment hovers at about 40 percent. In Kurdish communities, residents complain of widespread discrimination and arbitrary arrests. Rights groups have slammed Iran for the detention and execution of dozens of Sunni Kurds, often for unspecified crimes.

It is unclear how many Iranians have joined the Islamic State, but estimates from Kurdish media and analysts vary from dozens to hundreds. In the Islamic States first Persian-language video, released in March, at least one of the militants identified as Baluch.

According to a report from the International Center for Counter-Terrorism at The Hague, seven Iranians carried out suicide operations for the Islamic State from December 2015 through November 2016.

The Iranians do have to worry about it. The numbers arent insignificant, said Alex Vatanka, senior fellow and Iran expert at the Middle East Institute in Washington. Even if only a few end up radicalized, he said, once they have the support of the ISIS machinery to carry out attacks, they can do real harm, as weve seen with the attack in June.

At least four of the five assailants came from the same Kurdish town in western Iran, about 10 miles from the Iraqi border, officials said. The attackers had all belonged to local Islamist militant groups before traveling abroad to fight for the Islamic State.

[The United States and Europe are on a collision course over Iran]

For years, local and other militants used the area as a logistics hub to attack U.S. forces across the border in Iraq. But the Kurdish militants most recent return to Iran, after they had traveled to Iraq and Syria, exposed weaknesses in the countrys counterterrorism strategy, analysts said, which emphasized operations abroad but may have downplayed the potential for radicalization at home.

Iran effectively adopted a strategy of combating Sunni radicals at a distance to weaken these groups outside of its borders while simultaneously allowing a degree of latitude for these groups inside the country, said Nat Guillou, political risk and security analyst at Stirling Assynt, a global intelligence firm based in London.

Irans lenience meant that there were effectively ready-made smuggling routes that Iranian Kurds could exploit to help avoid detection in the event of an attack, Guillou said.

In Baluch areas, which border some of the most lawless territory in Pakistan and Afghanistan, local insurgents have also adopted a jihadist message to mobilize against the government in Tehran.

They were once leftist nationalists, but over the past decade or so, they have now begun to take up the mantle of jihad, and a sectarian Sunni message, Vatanka said. This is very dangerous from Irans internal security point of view.

The groups are believed to have cross-border links with like-minded militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But, analysts say, they have not yet pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

Still, as the Islamic State loses territory in Iraq and Syria, it may seek to coax local groups into providing its fighters sanctuary or establishing a new base.

Among the Baluch militants, there are certainly those that would be receptive to involvement in transnational jihad, Guillou said. But the real risk concerns how the state deals with this increased threat from the Sunnis.

So far, the security forces have really focused very tightly on suspected militants, he said, adding that a broader crackdown could push some of Irans more conservative Sunnis into the jihadi camp.

The government, under President Hassan Rouhani, has also reached out to Sunni leaders in a bid to immunize the state against the growing threat. Rouhani won reelection with landslide majorities in both Kurdish and Baluch areas in May. But his efforts so far, analysts say, have been halting and ultimately failed to impress.

There are many officials within the administration that realize how important it is to reach out to Sunni communities, to talk to them, Esfandiary said.

But it hasnt gone very well, she said, not least because it was sort of a halfhearted attempt on the part of the government.

There are still discrepancies between the way the minority communities are treated compared to normal Shia Iranians, she said. Its a big problem for the Iranian government.

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Islamic State threatens more bloodshed in Iran - Washington Post

Irans president on Tuesday warned it could restart its nuclear program within hours or days if the Trump administration continued its confrontational policies toward the Islamic Republic.

President Hassan Rouhanis remarks were a direct response to Trumps increasingly bellicose rhetoric toward Iran and his announcement of fresh sanctions on individuals and businesses connected to Irans ballistic missile program.

Trump has also pledged to undo the 2015 agreement that Iran signed with the United States and five other world powers under which it suspended activities that could have led to the production of a nuclear bomb in exchange for a sharp reduction in international sanctions that had hammered its economy.

Rouhani told lawmakers in Iran that sanctions and bullying by Trump administration officials were the type of failed policies that forced their predecessors to the negotiating table to reach the landmark nuclear deal, one of the Obama administrations signature foreign policy achievements.

Rouhani said Iran could quickly resume its nuclear activities and increase its quantities of enriched uranium a precursor to building a nuclear bomb to levels higher than before the agreement.

If they want to return to the previous position, definitely, not within a week or a month, but within hours or days, we will be back to a much more advanced stage than we were during our last negotiations, the state IRNA news agency quoted Rouhani as saying.

Rouhani has staked his presidency on the nuclear deal, and won reelection this year in part because the agreement remains widely popular in Iran, even among anti-Western hard-liners who believe it averted a military confrontation with the U.S.

It was the first time Rouhani threatened to break the agreement, a sign of how rapidly the war of words between the U.S. and Iran has escalated since Trump took office.

It was not clear if Rouhanis comments were bluster or if Iran could indeed restart its nuclear activities quickly. United Nations inspectors have access to Irans nuclear facilities under the agreement and have said the Islamic Republic is complying with its terms.

But last week, the head of Irans atomic energy agency and an architect of the 2015 agreement, Ali Akbar Salehi, suggested that Iran could return to 20% uranium enrichment levels in four or five days to catch [the U.S.] by surprise.

Congress has repeatedly certified that Iran is complying with the agreement as it is required to do every 90 days but Trump has called the deal a disaster and suggested that he would push to have the certification revoked.

Meanwhile, he has ratcheted up pressure on Iran by announcing a massive arms deal with rival Saudi Arabia and unilateral economic sanctions related to Irans ballistic missile program. The missile program is not covered by the nuclear agreement, but Iran believes any additional U.S. sanctions violate the spirit of the deal.

Iran responded this week by announcing increased spending on its military, including an additional $300 million for the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a paramilitary organization led by hard-liners.

It also announced that the government would prepare a strategic plan to combat the United States hegemony-seeking policies and interference in the Middle East.

Iran is sure that the sanctions are a failure, said Hamid Reza Taraghi, a political analyst close to the supreme leader. What President Rouhani said today is a threat against Americas threat.

Others characterized Rouhanis remarks as a bluff, saying it was unlikely that Iran could immediately resume a nuclear program that has been under close watch by the U.N. inspections regime.

What President Rouhani said is entirely empty talk, said Hoshang Taale, a former legislator who is close to Irans secular political factions.

Iran has already dismantled all functioning centrifuges and paralyzed its atomic enrichment technology. These sorts of speeches are totally for domestic consumption.

Special correspondent Mostaghim reported from Tehran and Times staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Follow @SBengali on Twitter

UPDATES:

10:45 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from analysts and additional background.

This article was originally published at 8:05 a.m.

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In direct challenge to Trump, Iran's president says it could restart its nuclear program 'within hours' - Los Angeles Times

Iran on Tuesday warned that it could rev up its nuclear program if the US continues threats and sanctions against the country and threatened to bail on the nuke deal it cut with world powers in 2015.

In an hour and a day, Iran could return to a more advanced [nuclear] level than at the beginning of the negotiations, President Hassan Rouhani told lawmakers, adding that Irans preference was to remain in the accord.

His remarks were his most direct warning yet that the deal could fall apart, and risked ratcheting up tensions with the US and President Trump.

The president had repeatedly denounced the deal, and said just last week that he believed Iran was in violation of its terms, which limited Irans ability to produce a nuclear weapon while ending most sanctions against it.

Earlier this week, Irans parliament voted to increase spending on the countrys ballistic missile program and the foreign operations of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

The move came in response to US legislation passed earlier this month imposing mandatory penalties on people involved in Irans ballistic missile program and anyone who does business with them.

The legislation also applies terrorism sanctions to the Guard and enforces an existing arms embargo.

The maneuvering around the Iran deal comes at a time when tensions have skyrocketed between the US and North Korea, which has tested nuclear weapons and threatened in recent weeks to fire a ballistic missile into the waters off the US territory of Guam.

The agreement between Iran and world powers two years ago capped Irans uranium enrichment levels in return for the lifting of international sanctions.

The US and other world powers fear Iran seeks the ability to produce atomic weapons.

Iran has long denied that it seeks nuclear arms and says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

It was not immediately clear what Rouhani was referring to and whether he meant Iran could restart centrifuges enriching uranium to higher and more dangerous levels.

In December, Rouhani ordered up plans to build nuclear-powered ships, something that appears to be allowed under the nuclear deal.

Rouhanis remarks were likely an attempt to appease hard-liners at home who have demanded a tougher stand against the US.

But they are also expected to ratchet up tensions further with the Trump administration.

Iran has said the new sanctions amount to a hostile breach of the 2015 nuclear deal.

The US has shown that it is neither a good partner nor a trustable negotiator, Rouhani added.

Those who are trying to go back to the language of threats and sanctions are prisoners of their past hallucinations. They deprive themselves of the advantages of peace.

But Rouhani also tempered his own threat, adding that Iran seeks to remain loyal to its commitments under the nuclear deal, which opened a path of cooperation and confidence-building with the world.

The deal was a model of the victory of peace and diplomacy over war and unilateralism, said Rouhani. It was Irans preference, but it was not and will not remain Irans only option.

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Iran threatens to rev up nuclear program - New York Post

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli television report said on Tuesday that Iran is building a facility in northwest Syria to manufacture long-range rockets, and showed satellite images it said were of the site under construction.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned last week that Iran was strengthening its foothold in its ally Syria as Islamic State fighters were being displaced, and said Israel was watching developments and would act against any threat.

"Our policy is clear: We vehemently oppose the military buildup by Iran and its proxies, primarily Hezbollah, in Syria and we will do whatever it takes to protect Israel's security," he said in a speech.

The Channel 2 television news report showed images it said were taken by an Israeli satellite showing a site in northwest Syria near the Mediterranean coastal town of Baniyas, saying some of the construction indicated explosives would be stored there.

It compared images of buildings it said were of a rocket factory near Tehran to structures at the Syrian site, and said there was a strong resemblance between them.

Netanyahu has been harshly critical of a 2015 deal that six world powers including the United States under then-president Barack Obama struck with Iran to curb its nuclear program in return for an end to multilateral sanctions.

Iran is Israel's avowed enemy, and Israel argues that the agreement fails to prevent Iranian weapons posing a threat to its very existence. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

The United States last month slapped new economic sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program and said Tehran's "malign activities" in the Middle East had undercut any "positive contributions" from the 2015 accord curbing its nuclear program.

U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently criticized the agreement as being too soft on Tehran, which remains subject to a U.N. arms embargo and other restrictions.

U.S. news reports have said that Israeli intelligence officials will discuss the situation in Syria and Lebanon with U.S. counterparts in Washington this week.

Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Mark Trevelyan

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Iran building long-range rocket factory in Syria: Israeli TV - Reuters.com