16th Round of Astana Talks on Syria Peace Underway in Kazakhstan

Delegations from Syria, the Syrian opposition, the guarantor countries of Iran, Russia, Turkey and the observer countries of Iraq and Lebanon participate in this round of talks.

On the first day of the summit, the delegation of the Islamic Republic, headed by Ali-Asghar Khaji, the senior advisor to Iran’s Foreign Minister on special political affairs, held talks with the delegations of Syria, Russia, Turkey and Geir O. Pedersen, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria.

In these meetings, the most important efforts in the field of political stability in Syria, holding the country’s presidential elections, trying to hold the sixth meeting of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva, the issue of border crossings, US sanctions against Syria as well as the issue of detainees and other related issues were discussed.

Meanwhile, the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran expressed its positions on the fight against terrorism, humanitarian aid, and the continuation of US sanctions against Syria.

It must be noted this is the first meeting being held within the framework of Astana-Nursultan process negotiations since the outbreak of the Corona virus.