Zarif in Syria for Political Discussions

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Damascus on Monday at the head of a political delegation for talks with top Syrian officials. 
He was set to q Syrian President Bashar al-Assad before holding talks with his counterpart Walid al-Muallem, ISNA reported. 
According to Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi, Zarif planned to discuss a wide range of issues, including the latest developments in Syria and the region with officials in Damascus.   
“It was necessary that the authorities of the two countries hold close talks as they had not convened for a while,” he said at a press conference on Monday. 
Iran had proposed to host the next meeting of Syria’s Astana peace process in Tehran together with Turkey and Russia in March.
“The meeting was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but this does not mean our consultations in this regard have been disrupted or stopped,” Mousavi said, adding that Iran believes the Astana process is still the most important political initiative to help improve the situation in Syria. 
The Astana process refers to trilateral ministerial meetings on Syria between Iran, Russia and Turkey.
A multipronged civil war has been ongoing in Syria for more than nine years, making it the second deadliest war of the century after the second Congo war.