Virtual Meeting of Astana Peace Process Planned
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran and Turkey agreed to hold an online meeting of the Astana process for peace in Syria in advance of an actual summit in Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu met in Turkey on Monday.
In two rounds of negotiations, the Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers agreed on holding a virtual meeting of the Astana Process in the coming weeks before the summit in Tehran at the first possible moment.
They also weighed plans to make up for a decline in trade exchanges between Iran and Turkey over the past four months due to restricting regulations in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Zarif and Cavusoglu also discussed issues relating to Syria, Yemen, Libya, and the fight against terrorism.
Zarif, who is leading a delegation to Turkey, expressed solidarity with and support for Turkey in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences.
He also stressed the need to resume gas exports to Turkey and repair and reconstruct a section of the gas pipeline that has been damaged.
Natural gas exports from Iran to Turkey came to a halt after an explosion and fire at a pipeline on the Turkish side of the border in April.