Iranian Deputy FM, UN Envoy Discuss Protracted Crisis in Syria


Iranian Deputy FM, UN Envoy Discuss Protracted Crisis in Syria

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian held talks with UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura over Syria's nearly five-year-old conflict and the latest developments in the Arab country.

In a telephone conversation, Amir Abdollahian stressed the need to determine a list of terrorist groups without dividing them into “good and bad ones” and called on the international community to adopt a realistic approach to deal with terrorism and the political process in Syria.

The resolution of the Syrian crisis hinges on the respect for the country’s sovereignty, independence, unity, territorial integrity and the will of the people and based on the talks between the opposing parties, which believe in political solution to the crisis, the Iranian diplomat said.

He further reaffirmed Iran’s continued support for the national dialogue in Syria brokered by the United Nations.

De Mistura, for his part, expressed his gratitude to Iran for its constructive role in recent talks on Syria in the Austrian capital of Vienna and the US city of New York.

The UN Security Council on December 18 gave its unanimous support for a peace process for Syria set to begin next month between representatives of the government and the opposition. No site was specified.

Two rounds of peace talks between government and opposition representatives in Geneva last year ended in failure over President Bashar Assad’s fate.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said last week that the fate of President Assad should not take center stage in international efforts aimed at resolving the crisis in Syria.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with Takfiri terrorists from various groups, including the ISIL, currently controlling parts of it.

According to the United Nations, more than 220,000 people have been killed and one million wounded during the conflict.

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