Iran’s FM Meets UN Chief in London

Foreign Minister Zarif arrived in London on Wednesday evening where representatives from 70 countries are meeting to discuss raising billions of dollars for the Syrian refugees.

On the sidelines of the conference on Thursday, the top Iranian diplomat held a meeting with Ban Ki Moon.

In the get-together, Zarif voiced Iran’s support for the process of Geneva peace negotiations between the Syrian government and the opposition, stressing that a political solution is the only way out of crisis in the Arab country.

He also urged a serious push for the battle against terrorism by the whole regional and international parties.

Zarif further strongly dismissed the “instrumental use” of terrorists in Syria by the foreign players.

The UN chief, for his part, admired Iran’s constructive role in supporting the political process of Syrian-Syrian peace talks, and called for concerted action by the regional governments in the fight on terrorism.

In other meetings, Foreign Minister Zarif separately visited Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Elisabeth Wallstrom, and discussed bilateral relations and the latest regional developments.

The London conference is being jointly hosted by Britain, Germany, Norway, Kuwait and the United Nations.

The event is built on 3 previous conferences that have been held in Kuwait.

The 2016 UN inter-agency appeals for the Syria crisis are an estimated $7.73 billion. An additional $1.2 billion in funding is required by affected regional governments as part of national response plans.

One of the aims of the conference in London is to ensure there are school places for all refugee children in the region by 2017, as well helping the host countries to provide places for their own children.