TEHRAN, Dec. 03 (MNA) – A meeting of the Astana format countries on Syria is currently being worked out, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, commenting on the information about the gathering scheduled for Friday in Doha.

"The issue of the meeting is under discussion," Maria Zakharova told TASS in response to a related question.

Syria has been in conflict since 2011. The Astana talks, also known as the Astana format, have been ongoing since 2017, with 21 meetings held to date. The Astana format includes Russia, Iran, and Turkey as guarantor countries in the process of resolving the Syrian crisis, alongside representatives of the Syrian government and opposition, the United Nations, and observer countries: Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq.

The Takfiri terrorists led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a large-scale attack in Aleppo and Idlib provinces in the northwest of Syria on Wednesday, seizing several areas, according to reports.

Since then, the Syrian government forces have been engaged in fierce clashes with the terrorists to regain ground.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-sponsored militancy since March 2011, with Damascus saying the Western states and their regional allies are aiding terrorist groups to wreak havoc in the Arab country.

SD/