Iran: Turkey's Patriot Request 'Complicates' Syria Conflict

Turkey's request to site Patriot missiles on its border with Syria only "complicates" the conflict in the Arab country, Iran's foreign ministry said on Friday.

"Not only does it not help resolve the situation in Syria but it will also aggravate and complicate the situation," ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, quoted on state television.

"The insistence (of certain countries) to resolve the Syrian crisis through military means is the main cause of tensions and threats in the region," he said.

Turkey turned to its NATO partners earlier this week to request the deployment of surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria, which is engulfed in a civil war that has cost some 40,000 lives.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Friday that such a deployment may create a temptation to use the weapons and spark a "very serious armed conflict" involving NATO.

And Syria slammed the move as "a new act of provocation" by Turkey, which supports the rebels who have waged a 20-month uprising against President Bashar Assad.