Iran to attend in next round of Astana talks on Syria

Russian President Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Wednesday that the 17th meeting of Astana formula on Syria should be hold in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan after the 20th of next December.

Bogdanov said in a press conference that Russia hopes the meeting will be held on the aforementioned date.

The economic, social, health and epidemiological situation in Syria, international humanitarian aid to Syria, prospect of the resumption of the Syrian Constitutional Committee in Geneva, confidence-building measures, including exchange of prisoners, release of hostages and the search for missing individuals have been cited as the main topics of the next round of Astana talks, Syrian Official News Agency SANA reported.

A meeting of the foreign ministers of the guarantor states of the Astana talks on Syria, Russia, Turkey and Iran, could be held next month, Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi announced earlier on Wednesday.

Syrian crisis is one of the most complicated international crises in which various regional and trans-regional actors play a role on it.

Growth and proliferation of terrorist groups in West Asia and the creation of conflict in the region have caused Syrian crisis to be accompanied by humanitarian catastrophes and new political developments.

Accordingly, various countries, including Islamic Republic of Iran, have always sought to end crisis in Syria. Several similar meetings were held in Geneva and Astana.

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