As a new round of Syria peace talks will be held in the Kazakh city of Astana later this month, ranking diplomats from Iran and Russia held a meeting to discuss the latest developments in Syria and coordinate policies for the settlement of the lingering crisis gripping the Arab country.
In a meeting on Tuesday in Tehran, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari and Russian President's Special Envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev held talks on the development surrounding the de-escalation zones in Syria, Tasnim News Agency reported.
They also discussed a series of new proposals for ensuring sustainable peace in Syria.
Diplomatic efforts to end fighting in Syria gained momentum in 2017 with the announcement of a ceasefire in the Arab country in early January.
Syria's warring sides have so far attended six rounds of peace talks in Astana, brokered by Iran, Russia and Turkey, known as the guarantors of the 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.
During the sixth round of Astana talks in September, the trio agreed on a deal to establish and patrol a de-escalation zone in Syria's northern Idlib province. In early October, Turkey deployed tanks and military vehicles on its Syrian border, building up military presence in Idlib.
The next meeting on the Syrian crisis settlement in Astana is to take place on October 30-31.
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