TEHRAN, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday called for joint cooperation with Turkey to prevent the escalation of tension in Syria, state TV reported.
The recent U.S.-led military attack against Syria was a "very ugly precedent" in international relations, Rouhani said in a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan.
All countries must react to illegal meddling in regional issues, he noted.
"When nothing has been proven and inspectors of the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have not announced the results of their research and investigations, no country or countries must be allowed to carry out a military action," Rouhani explained.
The Iranian president also highlighted the importance of tripartite cooperation between Iran, Russia and Turkey, given the latest developments in the region.
"The three countries should focus on efforts to reduce tensions in Syria and prevent Western interference," he said.
A day earlier, Rouhani said the U.S.-led airstrikes on Syria prove that Washington has direct ties with terrorists.
"The Americans showed such a reaction when they felt the terrorists were dislodged from an important region like Eastern Ghouta," Rouhani said in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Early on Saturday morning, the U.S., along with its allies Britain and France, launched a missile attack on Syrian military facilities allegedly related to chemical weapons capabilities.
The military move came in retaliation for the alleged use of poison gas by Syrian troops in an attack on the rebel-held town of Douma near the capital Damascus on April 7.
The Syrian government, however, has repeatedly rejected the allegations as a fabrication by the rebels and their foreign supporters to justify military strikes on Syria.
