Iranian FM Zarif arrives in London for Syria aid conference

Zarif arrived in the British capital’s Gatwick airport late on Wednesday where he was received by the UK’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran Nicholas Hopton and Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Britain Mohammad Hassan Habibollahzadeh.

World leaders and officials are gathering in London to take part in the conference with the aim of raising $9 billion for Syria, where foreign-sponsored militancy, which began in March 2011, has claimed the lives of over than 260,000 people and displaced almost half of the country’s population. The conference is expected to broach Syria’s humanitarian needs and ending the country’s five-year conflict.    

“Alongside the conference, we will hold talks with several participating dignitaries about Syria, the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and bilateral relations,” said Zarif.  

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia – plus Germany started to implement the JCPOA on January 16.

Zarif’s trip to London is the first on such a political level since 2004.