Iran, Russia, Turkey will decide fate of Astana peace process on Syria: FM Araghchi
Iran’s foreign minister says the fate of the Astana peace process aimed at resolving the Syria crisis hinges on developments in the Arab country and decisions by the guarantor states, namely Iran, Russia and Turkey.
Abbas Araghchi made the remarks on Monday, a day after foreign-backed militants, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), captured the Syrian capital Damascus and announced the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Asked whether the Syrian militants will attend the next round of the Astana format talks, he said the Syrian government has never been present at the process that only included Iran, Russia and Turkey.
“Whether the [Astana peace] process will continue in the future or not depends on developments and decisions of the three [guarantor] countries,” he said following a closed session of the Iranian Parliament on the recent developments in Syria.
Araghchi and his Russian and Turkish counterparts met on Saturday as part of the Astana format on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in the Qatari capital.
After the meeting, the participants issued a joint statement along with five Arab states, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, and Qatar, calling for a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
They also stressed the need “to put an end to the military escalation ..., preserve the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria and protect it from slipping into chaos and terrorism.”
Iran, Russia, and Turkey set up the Astana peace process in January 2017 as part of efforts to put an end to the Syrian conflict through the involvement of warring sides in the Arab country.
The three countries have so far held several rounds of talks.
The latest round of the discussions came in the wake of a surprise attack by the HTS-led militants on Syria’s Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib that led them to capture the countries’ main cities in less than two weeks.
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