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 spur the larger Kurdish communities in Turkey and Iran.

Tehran has also voiced opposition to Ankara's plans to pour troops into northern Iraq to ensure its border security and to thwart any Iraqi Kurdish bid for independence.

"We understand and share Turkey's concerns, but we do not approve of Turkish forces entering Iraq," Kharazi told a news conference last weekend.

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

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.

SPACE.WIRE