Syria

Syria's main opposition group has called for face-to-face discussions with government representatives, as a new round of talks in Geneva begins one year after meetings in the Swiss city fell apart.

A political analyst and a former envoy to Syria says Turkey seems to be cooperating to help Syria peace talks move forward and bear fruit in an effort to improve its image.

Head of Iran’s diplomatic team in the latest round of negotiations between the Syrian government and the rebel groups in the Kazakh city of Astana hailed a “calmer and more conciliatory” atmosphere in the peace talks than the previous round.

Amid Iranian and Turkish presidents’ consultations with regional powers, Kazakh Foreign Ministry confirmed that the beginning of the second round of talks on the settlement of Syrian crisis in Astana has been postponed until February 16.

Syria’s Ambassador to China says approximately 5,000 fighters from the restive northwest Chinese region of Xinjiang are fighting alongside militants in Syria having arrived in the Arab country through Turkey.

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said Russia’s Syria-bound military jets could be allowed to use the Iranian airspace.

Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said certain countries in the Middle East do not have any sympathy for the war-torn people of Syria, but are worried about the terrorist groups they support.

An Iranian Parliament member warned that disastrous consequences will happen if Syria’s integrity is not maintained.

Russia's special envoy on Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, is due in Tehran to hold talks with senior Iranian officials on the latest developments in the war-ravaged Arab country.

A senior Iranian analyst believes that divisive diplomacy and religious bans won’t lead to sustainable peace in Syria and the Middle East, and if the US President Trump wants to defeat terrorism in the region, he should avoid imposing such approaches.

A senior Middle East expert says the recent Syria peace talks held in the Kazakh capital of Astana were a positive move in handling the Syrian issue.

Syrian people in the war-stricken city of Aleppo attended a football stadium to watch a popular match after five years.

Infighting among rival Takfiri groups has intensified in militant-held areas in Syria with reports suggesting that fierce clashes are underway between Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group, formerly known as the al-Nusra Front, and Ahrar al-Sham terrorist group in Idlib.

Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Thursday that Iran has been the main supporter of the Arab country in its almost six-year-long battle against terrorism.

A number of Iranian lawmakers have underlined the country’s positive and determining role in fighting terror, praising the role of General Qassem Soleimani in defeating terrorists in the Middle East.

An Iranian analyst says the former US president, Barack Obama, was popular among Europeans, but people in the Middle East had a low opinion of him.

Hundreds of Syrians rode a train across east Aleppo for the first time in more than four years after the Army recaptured the city.

Iran, Russia and Turkey issued a joint statement on Tuesday following Syrian peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan.

An Iranian MP says Syrian people should be the ones to shape their own destiny, and any decision made in ongoing Astana talks should safeguard the Syrian nation’s interests.

The ISIS terrorist group has left the gates of Tabqa Dam on the Euphrates River open, and the lives of thousands of people near the Syrian city of Raqqa are in danger.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs, and the head of Iran’s delegation to Astana talks on Syria, called on the international community to help bring back stability to the crisis-hit Syria.

The peace talks gathering the Syrian government and opposition groups together began on Monday in the Kazakh capital, Astana, as the first priority is to stabilize the ceasefire, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry.

A former Iranian diplomat says the parties to the agreement on Aleppo were not able to deal with rebels if Iran didn’t intervene in the peace talks.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari says the forthcoming Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana are aimed at finding possible ways to establish sustainable peace in the conflict-stricken state and put an end to its nearly six-year crisis.

A diplomatic delegation from Iran arrived in Kazakhstan on Saturday to attend the Syria peace negotiations in the city of Astana.