Iranian, Russian Diplomats Hold Talks on Syria, Yemen

A delegation, consisting of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev and Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, visited Iran on Tuesday.

The Russian team held a meeting with Ali Asghar Khaji, Iranian Foreign Minister’s Senior Aide for Special Political Affairs and also Iran’s senior negotiator in the talks on Syrian and Yemeni affairs.

In the three-hour-long meeting, the two sides discussed the latest developments in Syria, including the formation of a constitutional committee and a task force on the exchange of detainees and abductees in the Arab country.

The Iranian and Russian teams also exchanged views on the next meeting of the “Astana Process”, due to be held in Kazakhstan’s capital of Nur-Sultan on August 1 and 2, as well as the next summit of the guarantor states of the Astana Process.

Moreover, Khaji and Vershinin held consultations on the situation in Yemen, with both emphasizing the need to end the crisis in the war-hit nation by carrying out the Stockholm ceasefire deal.

Iran and Russia are in close contact in the process of diplomatic efforts to settle the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.