Zarif to Visit Moscow

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will travel to Moscow this week for a trilateral meeting with his Russian and Syrian counterparts, a spokesman said. According to Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi, Zarif is scheduled to travel to Russia on Friday, Tasnim News Agency reported. News of the trilateral meeting had already been announced by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. The gathering will come against a backdrop of a recent US attack on Syria. On Friday, the US launched a missile attack on a Syrian government airfield near Homs with 59 Tomahawk missiles under the pretext that Damascus had allegedly launched a chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib. Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group, controlling parts of it. Iran and Russia have formed an alliance in the fight against terrorists, with both supporting the Damascus government against foreign-backed militancy.