Russia's special envoy in Tehran to discuss Syrian crisis with Iranian officials

Russia's special envoy in Tehran to discuss Syrian crisis with Iranian officials
Mon Sep 4, 2017 14:24:17

Russian President Putin's Special Envoy for Syria Affairs Alexander Lavrentiev arrived in Tehran to hold talks with senior Iranian officials on regional development, specially Syria.

(FNA) -- Lavrentiev is scheduled to meet Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani on Tuesday evening.

The two sides are slated to exchange views on the positions of the governments involved in the Syrian crisis, the ceasefire process, agreements reached, as well as the latest developments in terms of fight against terrorist groups.

Lavrentiev's visit aims to find ways for a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

In a relevant development on Saturday, the Russian foreign ministry in a statement said that Russia, Iran and Turkey "are preparing to have more active participation in the upcoming talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria".

"Astana talks are the main practical efforts to bring stability to Syria by promoting the steady functioning of de-escalation zones," the Russian foreign ministry's statement said.

"Importantly, this work is producing concrete results, helping to reduce tensions in Syria’s domestic confrontation, increase the living standards of civilians, resolve humanitarian issues, build bridges between various groups of Syrian society and promote trust between them," the statement added.

Russian foreign ministry also emphasized pursuit of maximizing efforts in Astana talks, including creating the fourth de-escalation zone in Idlib Province as a way to stop the crimes by the terrorist group al-Nusra Front in the region.

"We believe the Astana process and the decisions adopted in its framework require international support, specially from those forces that can influence developments in Syria or render substantial material support to its stabilization by increasing humanitarian aid. This would tangibly consolidate the recent trend of internally displaced persons and refugees in neighboring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey returning home."

The ministry also hoped that Syrian opposition would more actively contribute to the priority task which is defined as 'eliminating the terrorist hotbed in Syria'.

The three guarantors singed the memorandum of understanding on May 4, during the fourth round of Astana talks, to create de-escalation zones in Syria aimed at stabilizing parts of Homs, eastern Ghouta, Dara'a, and Quneitra.

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