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Astana talks bolster Syrian government’s legitimacy: Iran

Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs

A senior Iranian official says the recent Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan’s capital city of Astana have bolstered the legitimacy of the Arab country’s government.

Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs, made the remarks while speaking to reporters in Tehran on Tuesday in reference to the two-day Astana talks, which concluded earlier in the day by issuing a final statement.

“The Astana meeting showed that all sides, including Turkey and those groups, which follow this country and even countries not present there (in Astana), have acknowledged the Syrian government’s legitimacy either directly or indirectly,” Velayati said.

The peace talks started in Astana on Monday in the presence of representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups to explore whether or not they can find a mutually-acceptable solution to the almost-six-year conflict in their country.

Iran, Russia, and Turkey organized the Astana talks. The three also played intermediary roles at the talks, where the United Nations envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, was also present.

Velayati further assessed as positive the fact that representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition, except the Takfiri terrorist groups of Daesh and al-Nusra Front, had agreed to accept a nationwide ceasefire and operate under the Syrian government in the future.

There are high hopes that the peace talks would lead to the extension of the ceasefire, he added, noting that it is not, however, reasonable and correct to expect the Astana meeting to resolve all the disputes in Syria.

The senior Iranian official emphasized that such meetings must continue in the future.

From left: Turkish Foreign Ministry's Deputy Undersecretary Sedat Onal, Russia's Special Envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov, UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, and Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari pose after the announcement of a final statement following Syria peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, on January 24, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

At the end of the Syrian peace talks in Astana, Iran, Russia and Turkey agreed to establish a trilateral mechanism to support the ceasefire in the country and monitor possible violations.

Last month, Iran, Russia, and Turkey worked out a deal enabling the evacuation of civilians and militants from Aleppo as the Syrian forces were about to retake the northwestern city from Takfiri militants. The deal also paved the way for a ceasefire applying to the entire country, which has been largely holding.


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