Tehran, Ankara Discuss Region

Ranking diplomats from Iran and Turkey discussed the latest regional and international developments, particularly the Syrian peace process.

They reviewed preparations for the expert-level meetings prior to a new round of Syria peace negotiations due in Kazakhstan later this month. As a fresh round of Syria peace negotiations will be held in the Kazakh city of Astana in late August, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari and Undersecretary of Turkey’s Foreign Ministry Umit Yalcin met in Ankara on Thursday for preparatory talks, Tasnim News Agency reported. The sixth round of Astana peace talks is slated for the last week of August. The upcoming conference will be preceded by expert meetings in Tehran in the coming days. Syria’s warring sides have so far attended five rounds of peace talks in Astana, brokered by Iran, Russia and Turkey, known as the guarantors of a ceasefire in the Arab country. The fourth round of those talks in May produced a memorandum of understanding on de-escalation zones in Syria, sharply reducing fighting in the country.