Iran, Russia Call for End to Syrian, Yemeni Crises

Advisor to the Iranian Parliament Speaker Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Russian Ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan called for an end to humanitarian crises in Syria and Yemen, condemning the terrorists’ recent chemical attack on Syria’s Aleppo, AVA Diplomatic reports.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Levan Dzhagaryan made the remarks in a bilateral meeting on Monday in Tehran on the advent of the upcoming next round of Astana format talks for solving the crisis in Syria.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia have constantly focused their efforts on a political solution to Syria as well as to Yemen, but unfortunately, there are countries who see their interests in continuing the war which hinders the efforts to put an end to the conflicts and a ceasefire in those countries.”

He added that a new terrorist chemical attack on Aleppo was also handled by warmongers and supporters of insecurity in the region. Levan Dzhagaryan, for his part, urged for an end to the conflicts in Yemen and Syria. Dzhagaryan also expressed regret over the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

The Russian ambassador said that Astana peace talks must continue to find the appropriate political solution as there is not military solution to the conflict. In the meeting, the two sides also emphasized the expansion of parliamentary relations between the two countries. It is noteworthy that the speakers of the two countries’ parliaments will hold a meeting in the near future to discuss the latest developments in the region and beyond. Concurrent with the meeting in Tehran, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanayee held a bilateral meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin in Moscow on Monday. The two diplomats discussed conditions in Syria including the new version of Astana talks on solving Syrian crisis which is slated to be held on November 28-29. The first meeting in the Astana format for reaching a cease-fire in Syria was held in January 2017. Nine meetings were held in Astana, while the 10th meeting was held in Sochi, Russia this July. Just days remaining to start of the new round of Astana format talks, terrorist groups staged a chemical attack on crowded Nile Street, Al-Khalidiyah and Jam’iyat al-Zahra neighborhoods in Syria’s Aleppo. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the attack on Sunday adding that the shelling of Aleppo with toxic gases was aimed at disrupting normalization in Syria, calling on the international community to condemn the terrorist attack.