In response to Turkey’s military operation in Syria, President Hassan Rouhani said: “We urge our friend and brother country of Turkey to rethink the path they have chosen.” At the same time, Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran’s parliament canceled his trip to Turkey.

According to official reports, after Turkey’s military operation in Syria began, Ali Larijani, who was invited to a parliamentary summit in Istanbul, canceled his trip.

Rouhani’s comments are the first official reaction by Islamic Republic officials regarding the military operation in the northeast of Syria.

President Erdogan had announced that Turkey’s goal from this operation is to “destroy the terrorist corridor on Turkey’s southern border and create peace and stability in the region to bring Syrian refugees back to their countries.”

Rouhani added: “The Turkish government has some rightful concerns about their southern borders and these concerns need to be lifted. But we believe the right method should be chosen for it.”

“In our summit with Russia and Turkey, we stated that the solution to the security issues in Syrian-Turkish borders is only the presence of the Syrian army,” Rouhani said.

He continued: “The method that is chosen today and the deals that have been made behind closed doors are not in the interest of the region and we ask our friend and brother country of Turkey to exercise more patience and rethink the path it has chosen.”

As the Turkish forces entered Syrian soil on Wednesday, the Iranian army ground forces started an unexpected and unannounced military drill in the northwest of Iran.