FM, EU Diplomats Discuss Syria

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif talked to top Dutch and other European diplomats by phone to coordinate efforts for resolving a crisis that has gripped Syria for more than five years. In a telephone conversation on Monday, Zarif and the foreign minister of the Netherlands, Bert Koenders, discussed bilateral issues and the latest developments in war-torn Syria, Tasnim News Agency reported. Separately, the top Iranian diplomat held phone conversations with European Union foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, on Monday evening and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday about the Syria crisis. It came after a new round of diplomatic talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne, which was attended by nine nations, failed to break a deadlock on how to end fighting in Syria. Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various militant groups, including the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group, currently controlling parts of it. Over 400,000 Syrians have been killed throughout the five years of bloodshed, 4.8 million have fled the country and 6.6 million have been internally displaced by the violence.