No terrorists invited to Astana meeting on Syria

Speaking to reporters on Sunday following his meeting with Syrian Foreing Minister Walid al-Muallim in Tehran, Head of Strategic Research Center Ali Akbar Velayati said the upcoming Astana meeting on Syrian situation to be attended by Iranian, Russian and Turkish presidents will include negotiations between Syrian government and those rebels who are willing to lay down their weapons and stop terrorist acts and accept to be a part of the great Syrian nation.

The rebels attending the Astana meeting in Kazakhstan mid-January are those who ‘respect Syria’s territorial integrity and legitimate sovereignty’, he added.

Velayati stressed that ISIL and al-Nusra as terrorist groups will have no part in the negotiations.

The Iranian senior official further deemed his earlier meeting with Walid al-Mualim ‘constructive’ and ‘positive’, adding “the visit of Syrian security-intelligence and foreign policy officials to Iran and bilateral cooperation between Iran and Syria as well as trilateral cooperation of Iran, Russia and Syria has gained further significance after the victory of Aleppo.”

“We are happy about the victory of Aleppo,” Velayati said. “The victory of Syria and its allies in Aleppo is the greatest victory in the recent history of the whole region.”

Speaking to reporters on Sunday following his meeting with Syrian Foreing Minister Walid al-Muallim in Tehran, Head of Strategic Research Center Ali Akbar Velayati said the upcoming Astana meeting on Syrian situation to be attended by Iranian, Russian and Turkish presidents will include negotiations between Syrian government and those rebels who are willing to lay down their weapons and stop terrorist acts and accept to be a part of the great Syrian nation.

The rebels attending the Astana meeting in Kazakhstan mid-January are those who ‘respect Syria’s territorial integrity and legitimate sovereignty’, he added.

Velayati stressed that ISIL and al-Nusra as terrorist groups will have no part in the negotiations.

The Iranian senior official further deemed his earlier meeting with Walid al-Mualim ‘constructive’ and ‘positive’, adding “the visit of Syrian security-intelligence and foreign policy officials to Iran and bilateral cooperation between Iran and Syria as well as trilateral cooperation of Iran, Russia and Syria has gained further significance after the victory of Aleppo.”

“We are happy about the victory of Aleppo,” Velayati said. “The victory of Syria and its allies in Aleppo is the greatest victory in the recent history of the whole region.”