The first official meeting of the national security agencies of the member states of the anti-terrorism coalition which allies Syria was held on Tuesday evening in Zavidovo village in the north of the Russian capital.
The multinational meeting of officials in charge of security matters, which convened on the initiative of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was attended by Head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of National Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolay Patrushev as well as national security advisors of Iraq, Faleh al-Fayad, and Syria, Ali Mamluk.
At the meeting, senior security officials of the four countries, delivered separate speeches explaining their plans to continue joint efforts until complete eradication of terrorism in the region and emphasized the constructive role of the coalition in management of the crises caused by terrorism and in providing facilities for return of peace and stability to the region.
Yet another issue raised at the meeting was the need for closer cooperation between Syria and Iraq at joint borders in order to avoid mobility of defeated terrorists.
The international meeting of high representatives overseeing security issues assessed the tension-loaded and non-constructive statements made in Riyadh as sources of instability in the region and emphasized that anti-terrorism coalition of Western countries and terrorism supporters were merely artificial propagandas.
Continued close cooperation between Iran, Russia and Turkey to conclude Astana summit initiatives, especially the ones pertaining to maintaining the ceasefire and creating four de-escalation zones, where other issues discussed and agreed at the meeting.
Head of Iran’s SNSC Ali Shamkhani, for his part, thanked the Russian Federation for coordinating and hosting the meeting saying “liberation of Fallujah, Mosul, Aleppo and other occupied parts will not put an end to the terrorism-based ideology and the fight against Takfiri groups needs to be continued by identifying and destroying ideological roots and protective factors of terror.
At the end of the meeting it was decided that the four countries periodically hold the summit in order to enhance coordination to combat terrorism more effectively.
Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev led the Russian delegation.
The 2017 Riyadh summit was a series of three summits held on 20-21 May 2017 on the occasion of the visit of United States President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia, his first trip overseas. The summit included one bilateral meeting, between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and two multilateral meetings, one between the members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council and the other with Arab and Muslim countries. Leaders and representatives of 55 Arab and Muslim countries were in attendance.
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