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Syria ceasefire, humanitarian aid delivery Iran’s priorities: Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) and the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, meet in Tehran on October 24, 2016. (Photo by Tasnim News Agency)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the Islamic Republic attaches great importance to the enforcement of a lasting ceasefire in Syria and dispatch of humanitarian aid to its war-stricken people.

“[The enforcement of] a ceasefire and the dispatch of humanitarian relief have always been among our priorities in Syria and we are ready for any cooperation in this regard,” Zarif said in a meeting with the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, in Tehran on Monday.

Since March 2011, Syria has been hit by militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies. Backed by the Russian air cover, the Syrian military is engaged in an operation to rid the country of Daesh and other terrorist groups.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura have put the death toll from the Syria conflict at more than 300,000 and 400,000, respectively.

This is while the UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.

Smoke rises from buildings in an eastern neighborhood of the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo on October 20, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

A unilateral ceasefire announced by Russia and the Syrian government in Syria’s northwestern city of Aleppo came to an end on Saturday evening after a one-day extension. The truce was aimed at permitting civilians and militants not affiliated to terrorist groups to leave the eastern areas of the city.

The Iranian foreign minister further called for global action on the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen.

More than 10,000 Yemenis have been killed since Saudi Arabia launched its deadly campaign against Yemen in March 2015. The military aggression was meant to reinstall Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh who has resigned as Yemen’s president.

Iran’s positive role in regional, global issues

Stylianides, for his part, said Iran plays a key and positive role in regional and international developments.

He also commended the Islamic Republic’s efforts to send humanitarian aid to war-hit Syria.


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