Iran envoy meets Iraqi, Lebanese, UN delegations in Astana

On the second day of the 16th round of Astana talks in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, headed by Ali Asghar Khaji, held meetings with the Lebanese and Iraqi delegations, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the representative of International Committee of the Red Cross, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In these meetings, the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran discussed the latest situation in Syria, including the country's elections, Syrian refugees and the situation of refugees in the country, as well as sanctions and other issues.

The meeting of the working group on the exchange of prisoners, missing persons and detainees was also held with the participation of the guarantor states within the framework of the Astana process. In this meeting, Mir-Massoud Hosseinian, Director General of the Middle East and North Africa of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed the views of Iran in this regard and emphasized ethical-human principles and called for speeding up these efforts.

The delegations of Turkey, Russia, the United Nations and the Red Cross also presented proposals on the progress of the process and their latest performance reports.

At the end of the bilateral and multilateral talks, the final meeting of the Astana process was held and the participants agreed on and approved the communique of the summit.

Speaking to different news agencies, including Russia's Tass news agency, and Russian and Syrian journalists, Khaji talked about the recent successful presidential election in Syria and stressed the people's right to sovereignty.

In the press conference, Khaji, the senior adviser to Iran’s foreign minister, elaborated on the issue of the return of internally displaced persons to their homes and stressed the need to confront any separatist and terrorist moves in Syria.

In earlier remarks to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, the diplomat said the main decision to resolve the Syrian issue must be made by the government and people of the country. He made the remarks at the end of the talks in Nur-Sultan, the new name for Astana.

Khaji pointed out that during the tripartite meeting on the final statement of the committee, Iran’s views were unanimous with other members, including Turkey and Russia.

The Iranian diplomat said that everyone should remember that the participants are not "making a decision" on the Syrian issue, but putting forward their own opinions to help the Syrian government and people make the final decision.

The situation in Syria, the activities of the Syrian Constitutional Committee in Geneva, international assistance, the exchange of prisoners, the release of hostages and other measures were on the agenda of the talks in Kazakhstan.

At the end of the talks, Iran, Russia, and Turkey announced in a joint statement that they will continue to cooperate until Daesh and other terrorist organizations are completely eliminated in Syria.
Source: Tehran Times