Publish Date: 11 December 2019 - 15:22

TEHRAN, Dec. 11 (MNA) – The 14th round of Astana talks on Syria was held on Wednesday in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

This round of talks, hosted by the city of Nur-Sultan, was attended by delegations from the guarantor countries, namely, Iran, Russia, Turkey, alongside the UN Special Envoy to Syria, as well as the Syrian government and the opposition, as well as observers from Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan.

Following bilateral, tripartite and quartet meetings with delegates attending the 14th Astana talks, Iranian delegation headed by Senior Assistant to Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Asghar Khaji held separate meetings with delegations from Syria and Lebanon on the latest issues.

During bilateral meetings with Syrian and Iraqi delegations, the sides discussed the latest developments in Syria, especially concerns about the return of ISIL and the need to fight against terrorism, the latest situation in the Euphrates, Idlib, Constitution Committee and extradition of detainees and abductees.

Following the activities of this round of Astana talks, first, the second meeting of delegations of the three guarantor countries was held in a bid to set the final document of the 14th round, then, a quadripartite meeting was held with the participation of the delegation of the guarantor countries plus UN Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pederson.

At the end, the closing session of this round of Astana talks was held with the participation of all delegations.

The talks on Syria, known as the Astana process, were launched by Russia, Turkey, and Iran in January 2017 to bring all warring parties in Syria to the negotiating table to complement the UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva. So far, 13 meetings have been held.

Cooperation between the guarantors of peace in Syria has also been able to preserve the territorial integrity and national sovereignty and independence of Syria.

MNA/ 4795148