TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran said on Saturday it fully supported the government of neighboring Turkey against an attempted military coup launched on Friday night, despite Tehran and Ankara's differences over Syria and other issues.
The senior aide to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that Tehran backed Turkey's elected government against the coup but it expected Ankara to do the same when it came to Syria.
Iran is a main ally of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's war against foreign-backed terrorists and militants while Turkey has been supporting.
"We disagree with Turkey on some issues, like Syria. We are hopeful that the Turkish government respects the Syrian people's opinion and votes and lets the Syrian nation choose their government," Ali Akbar Velayati was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.
President Hassan Rouhani chaired a meeting of Iran's National Security Council on Saturday to discuss the latest developments in Turkey.
"We support Turkey's legal government and oppose any type of coup - either initiated domestically or supported by foreigners," National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani said after the meeting, quoted by state news agency IRNA.
Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif has spoken three times on the telephone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Iranian news agencies said.
Zarif said in a tweet he was "deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount."
He later praised Erdogan supporters who took to the streets to oppose the military move.
"Turkish people's brave defense of democracy and their elected government proves that coups have no place in our region and are doomed to fail," he said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said, "We are deeply concerned about stability, security, unity, democracy and the rule of law in Turkey.”
 "A stable, secure and democratic Turkey is a priority for the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Qasemi said, expressing hope that complete stability and peace would be restored to the country as soon as possible.
Hours before the coup took place, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday Iran and Turkey play a leading role in the Middle East, expressing his country’s determination to improve comprehensive cooperation with the Islamic Republic.
Turkey regards Iran as a friendly country and the Turkish government seeks to expand relations with Tehran in all spheres, including regional developments, Yildirim told reporters in Ankara.
He said that Tehran and Ankara have a great responsibility vis-à-vis regional issues, adding that no extra-regional country is affected by developments in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Palestine as much as Iran and Turkey.
The Turkish premier went on to say that Foreign Minister Zarif would pay a visit to Ankara soon, and that bilateral relations would become more dynamic in the near future.