Iran and the U.S. welcomed PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan's call for the terrorist group to disarm and dissolve itself.
In a major shift, Öcalan on Thursday said that "all groups must lay down their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself."
But the PKK, whose military leadership is mostly based in the mountains of northern Iraq, has yet to respond.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement on Friday that Tehran views the move as "an important step toward renouncing violence."
He added that Iran "welcomes any process that leads to stopping terrorism and strengthening security" in neighboring Türkiye, expressing hope that it "will also have positive effects in the region."
Earlier this month, Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib discussed "the fight against terror organizations, especially the PKK and Daesh," during a meeting with visiting head of Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Ibrahim Kalın.
The U.S. also welcomed a call by the jailed ringleader of the PKK terrorist group to lay down its arms.
"We've seen the reports on Abdullah Ocalan's statement. The United States considers the PKK a Foreign Terrorist Organization, so any move to lay down arms and remove that threat is a welcome step," a State Department spokesperson, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the White House said that it believes the call to the PKK to dissolve will help bring peace to a "troubled region."
"It's a significant development and we hope that it will help assuage our Turkish allies about U.S. counter-ISIS partners in northeast Syria," White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in an emailed statement to Anadolu.
"We believe it will help bring peace to this troubled region," he added.
Jailed PKK ringleader Öcalan on Thursday called for the dissolution of all groups under PKK, urging an end to its terror campaign spanning over 40 years, which claimed at least 40,000 lives.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S., and EU.
Washington's support for the YPG/PKK-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has been a major point of contention in U.S.-Turkish relations, despite both countries being NATO allies.
The U.S. views the SDF as its primary partner in the fight against ISIS (Daesh) in Syria, while Ankara strongly opposes this due to the YPG's ties to the PKK.
Since the fall of the Bashar Assad regime on Dec. 8, Türkiye has repeatedly called on the PKK/YPG to dissolve or face a potential military operation.
Türkiye and Iran were also on opposite sides of Syria's long-running civil war, with Türkiye historically backing opponents of recently deposed strongman Bashar Assad, while Iran supported his rule. Kalın was the first high-ranking Turkish official to visit Syria after Assad's fall. Assad was deposed on Dec. 8, and the leaders of Türkiye and Iran held their first meeting in Cairo later that month.
