Astana Talks Exemplar of Crisis Settlement: Iran’s Shamkhani

“The trilateral political initiative and the holding of the Astana conference are a successful method that could be employed as a paradigm of ending regional crises by tapping into indigenous capacities,” Shamkhani said at a meeting with Russian President Special Envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev.

The two senior officials met in Tehran on Sunday as part of continued consultations between Iran and Russia on finding a solution to the crisis that has plagued Syria for six years.

Hailing the joint initiative by Tehran, Moscow and Ankara to hold a round of peace negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition in Kazakhstan, Shamkhani said certain regional countries are worried, not about the Syrian people, but about losing the opportunity to use terrorist groups in Syria.

While Iran is committed to pursuing political approaches to end the Syria war, it believes in military action only against terrorist groups that refuse to lay down their arms, Shamkhani added.

For his part, Lavrentiev described the Astana meeting as a remarkable achievement for pursuing trilateral political initiatives by Russia, Iran and Turkey.

The Russian envoy also emphasized that the three countries will press on with joint action against terrorists and groups that defy political approaches.

The meeting came a few weeks after the Syria peace talks in Astana.

Diplomatic efforts to end fighting in Syria gained momentum in 2017 with the announcement of a ceasefire in the Arab country early January.

The truce, which has been negotiated between Russia, Iran, Turkey, the Damascus government and the Syrian opposition, excludes terrorist groups such as Daesh and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh, currently controlling parts of it.