ERBIL - Iran has refuted neighboring Turkey's claims of launching a joint military operation against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Earlier on Monday, Turkish Interior Minister Soleyman Soylu claimed that his country and Iran had started a military campaign jointly against the PKK, as the armed group is viewed as a "terrorist organization" by Ankara.

"We started staging a joint operation with Iran against the PKK on our eastern border as of 0800 (0500 GMT) this morning," Soylu was quoted by Anadolu Agency.

"We will announce the result later," he added.

However, Iran's Fars news agency cited a source at the Iranian armed forces as denying any participation from the Iranian forces in the operation.

"The Turkish army carried out the operation against the militant group PKK, but Iran's armed forces were not part of the operation".

The Turkish minister did not clarify where his country's army carried out the operation, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has many times in the past threatened to conduct a joint operation against the PKK positions in Iraq’s Mount Qandil.

Bas News