In a telephone conversation on Sunday, Amir Abdollahian and UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura discussed the latest developments pertaining to the international talks aimed at settling the conflict in Syria.

The Iranian diplomat underlined that the peace talks and the battle against terrorism should continue simultaneously.

The Iranian diplomat further hailed the UN role in supporting the ongoing intra-Syrian dialogue as well as the anti-terror campaign in the Arab country.

Three rounds of UN-backed negotiations have so far been held in Vienna and New York on the situation in Syria since October. A fourth session is also scheduled to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, in late January.

The participating states, including Iran, are trying to work out a list of legitimate opposition groups, as opposed to terrorists, in Syria to engage in talks with the government in Damascus.

De Mistura, for his part, described Iran’s role in resolving the crisis in Syria through a political trend as “positive”, and stressed the need for dispatch of humanitarian aid to the war-stricken country.

Syria has been entangled in civil war since March 2011, with Takfiri terrorist groups like ISIL controlling parts of it, mostly in the east.

In the past four and half years, more than 250,000 people have died in Syria -overwhelmingly civilians- and around 4 million Syrians are now refugees in other countries. Around 8 million others have been displaced internally.

S/SH