Astana Talks One of Most Stable Processes to Resolve Syrian Crisis: Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi highlighted the country’s role in the Syrian peace process and said the Astana talks brokered by Tehran, Moscow, and Ankara is one of the most stable ongoing processes aimed at resolving the Arab country’s crisis.
Speaking to reporters during his weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday, Qassemi reacted to negative comments about Iran’s absence in a recent summit on Syria in Turkey’s Istanbul and said, “Iran is not supposed to participate (in talks) everywhere.”
He added, however, that the Islamic Republic had been informed of the details of the four-way summit of France, Germany, Turkey, and Russia in Istanbul.
The spokesman further highlighted the Astana peace talks brokered by Iran, Russia, and Turkey and said the negotiations are one of the most stable ongoing processes to resolve the Syrian crisis.
The four-way summit on Syria recently ended in Turkey’s Istanbul without any major breakthrough.
In a joint communique following their meeting, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin called for "an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process" and said conditions needed to be created for the safe and voluntary return of refugees.
Conflicts erupted in Syria back in 2011, when a small group of opposition forces took up arms against Damascus.
Soon, however, a mix of international terrorists and paid mercenaries mingled with and then largely sidestepped the armed Syrian opposition groups, effectively turning the Arab country into a battlefield for foreign governments opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
But the Syrian military, with advisory military help from Iran and Russia — and a Russian aerial bombardment campaign — has retaken control of much of the country, and the conflict is generally believed to be winding down.