Iran’s Zarif Proceeds with High-Profile Meetings at UN
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Working to a tight schedule on the sidelines of the 72nd regular session of the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held meetings with several foreign counterparts and top officials in New York to discuss various issues.
The senior Iranian diplomat met a number of foreign authorities, including UN officials, on Friday.
In one of the meetings, Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani voiced his country’s readiness to cooperate with neighboring Iran on holding sessions to resolve disputes over water use and address the issue of Afghan refugees in Iran.
The two ministers also discussed the security conditions in Afghanistan and the region and the efforts to combat terrorist groups, including Daesh (ISIL).
In another meeting, Zarif and his Malaysian counterpart Anifah Aman discussed Tehran-Kuala Lumpur cooperation in the international organizations, the latest regional and international developments, the crises in Myanmar, Yemen and Syria, as well as the need for Muslim unity to settle the conflicts.
The Iranian minister also had separate meetings with his opposite numbers from Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Montenegro, Armenia, and Chile.
In other one-on-one meetings, Zarif spoke with President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer, and with Fatou Bensouda, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor.
Moreover, the top Iranian diplomat had a meeting with the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, which revolved around the latest status of political talks for peace in Syria, the delivery of humanitarian aids for Syrian people, and the future of Syria in the post-terrorism era.
Syria’s warring sides have attended several rounds of peace talks in Astana, brokered by Iran, Russia and Turkey, known as the guarantors of a ceasefire in the Arab country.
The fourth round of those talks in May produced a memorandum of understanding on de-escalation zones in Syria, sharply reducing fighting in the country.
Over the past six years, Syria has been fighting foreign-sponsored militancy. De Mistura estimated in August 2016 that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the Syrian crisis until then. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.
