Speaking to reporters after a Quartet Principals’ session in Vienna on Friday, Mogherini said the meeting covered good discussions on the Middle East situation.

The Quartet is a group of four parties, including the UN, the EU, the US and Russia, formed to mediate in the disputes between Palestine and Israel.

Mogherini told reporters that participants in the Friday’s meeting also tried to coordinate efforts for opening a political process in Syria to end a lingering crisis in the Arab country.

Asked about Iran’s role in the settlement of the conflicts in Syria, Mogherini said, “You know the European Union position, also stated officially in the European Union Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions - all relevant actors, regionally and internationally, should be involved. This is our commitment, this is our engagement. I have had personally long talks with Iranian delegations, high level Iranian delegations, especially after the deal we have negotiated here in Vienna. Our open channel with Iran is something we are using very actively in these days, and I hope that Iran can be part of this common end.”

Syria has been entangled in civil war since March 2011. The ISIL Takfiri group now controls parts of the Arab country, mostly in the east.

In the past four and half years, more than 240,000 people have died in Syria -overwhelmingly civilians- and around 4 million Syrian people are now refugees in other countries. Around 8 million others have been displaced internally; Tasnim reported.

S/SH