Iranian Diplomat, Syrian President Meet in Damascus

During the Sunday meeting, which took place within the framework of ongoing consultations between Iran and Syria in Damascus, Assad and Jaberi Ansari conferred on several issues.

The two sides discussed the latest developments in the political dialogues and the necessity of ongoing stage of the international peace talks, with an emphasis on the exclusive right of the Syrians to decide on the future of their country, without any external pressure or foreign intervention.

Jaberi Ansari and his accompanying delegation also held negotiations with Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem.

The Sunday afternoon meeting was held in the course of Jaberi Ansari’s meetings with high-ranking Syrian officials.

In this meeting, which was also attended by Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, the two sides discussed the latest developments of the Syrian peace process talks and the agenda of the upcoming joint meeting of the top negotiators of Iran, Russia and Turkey in Geneva.

The Iranian diplomat, who is the Islamic Republic’s top negotiator at Syria Peace Talks, is visiting Syria at the head of a diplomatic delegation.

Jaberi Ansari arrived in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Sunday morning. As part of diplomatic efforts to end the Syria crisis, the Iranian diplomat regularly meets with Syrian officials, UN Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura, and Alexander Lavrentiev, the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Special Representative for Syria.

Jaberi Ansari’s ongoing visit to Damascus comes a few days after a Syrian delegation led by the country’s Minister of Awqaf Mohammad Abdul-Sattar al-Sayyed visited Tehran and met with the Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.