Moscow meeting urged respect for Syria’s territorial integrity: Iran’s FM

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed briefly the outcome of Tuesday’s trilateral meeting in Moscow on Syrian situation, adding “two months ago at a trilateral meeting in Moscow, Mr. Lavrov and I agreed to invite Turkey for a joint meeting in order to establish further coordination with regards to operations in Syria.”

Zarif went on to add, “all three countries are making efforts to have political dialogues in Syria about establishing a ceasefire and delivering humanitarian aid to the people.”

“Certain regional countries had been seeking conflict and a military approach to the Syrian situation, which was a shortsighted view,” Zarif said. “At the meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), we instead tried to push forward a political solution to the crisis, which was not adopted due to Saudi Arabia’s opposition.”

The Iranian diplomat maintained that the three sides at Tuesday’s meeting in Moscow highlighted the need for delivery of humanitarian aid to all parts of Syria, adding “the topic mostly raised in the international community and Western countries was that terrorist groups were under pressure and they started backing the armed groups, while people of Kafraya have been under siege and have been receiving humanitarian assistance through air drops.”

Zarif further added, “at the meeting, some suggestions were also made in regard to arriving at a solution with the armed groups in Syria, but of course Iran had proposed a ceasefire four years ago.”

“This issue will be followed up in the next meetings, and I hope we can arrive at a decision,” he said.