Islam Times - Iran, Russia Maintain Close Dialogue on Syria: Russian FM

Islam Times - Russian foreign ministry says Moscow will maintain its close dialogue with Tehran over Syrian war ahead of ceasefire negotiations.

The ministry said the trend of close negotiations between Moscow and Tehran will remain the same as the warring parties in Syria get ready to initiate settlement negotiations in Kazakhstan’s Astana.

The comments came after a meeting between Russian president’s envoy for the West Asia and African countries and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari.

"The sides continued a detailed and trust-based exchange of opinions on the current situation in the West Asia with a focus on invigoration of international efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria,” Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The statement said such dialogues will continue “in the context of the agreements reached at the December 20, 2016 trilateral talks in Moscow between the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey”.

“They also discussed preparations for an international meeting on the Syria settlement due to be held in Astana and prospects for the resumption of inclusive intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva," the ministry said.

"The two diplomats stressed the importance of maintaining close dialogue between Moscow and Teheran on Syrian problems and on other current issues of the regional agenda," the ministry said.