Iran's Rouhani tells Erdogan 'protests to end in a few days'

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday told his Turkish counterpart he hoped protests that have rocked the country since last Thursday would end in a few days.

A Turkish presidential source said Rouhani spoke to Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a telephone call. 

Erdogan told Rouhani that "peace and stability" in Iranian society had to be preserved and said he agreed with the Iranian leader's statement that the right to protest should not lead to "violations of the law".

"President Rouhani thanked President Erdogan for his sensitivity and expressed hope that the protests would end in a few days," said a statement by a Turkish presidential source.

The comments were not immediately confirmed by the Iranian side.

Turkey - which was hit by street protests against Erdogan, then prime minister, in 2013 - had already said it was concerned by the protests and warned against any escalation.

The almost week-long unrest in Iran which began with protests in Mashhad over the economy and unemployment, has spiralled into what it thought to be the biggest challenge to the Islamic regime since the 2009 mass demonstrations, and has so far claimed at least 21 lives, Tehran officials said.

Turkey, whose rivalry with Iran goes back to the regional battle for supremacy between the Ottoman Empire and imperial Persia, has had on occasion tricky moments in relations with Tehran.

Erdogan has repeatedly railed against "Persian imperialism" in the Middle East but relations have warmed in the last months as Moscow and Tehran work tightly with Ankara to bring peace to Syria. 

Turkey's conservative press has sounded grave unease over the protests, accusing the United States and its allies of fomenting the unrest as part of a plot to transform the Middle East.