New round of Syrian peace talks begins in Astana

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Moscow, May 3, IRNA -- New round of Syrian peace talks began in the Kazakh capital city of Astana on Wednesday with the participation of Syrian armed opposition groups and UN representative.

The talks are attended by Iran, Russia and Turkey, as its main founders and supporters of peace talks on Syria.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab-African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari heads the Iranian delegation in the talks.

Delegations from the United Nations, the Syrian government and the country's armed opposition groups are attending the event which aims to discuss Russian proposal for creation of four 'de-escalation zones' in Idlib province, in northern parts of Homs, in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus and in the south of the country.

So far, three rounds of talks were held in Astana.

The first round of multilateral Astana talks initiated by Iran, Russia and Turkey, was attended by the Syrian government's representatives as well as dissident groups in held on January 23-24.

The second round of the Astana talks took place on February 15-16 with the participants agreeing to set up a ceasefire monitoring group assigned by Iran, Russia and Turkey, that would report to the United Nations.

The third meeting involving the Iranian, Russian and Turkish and the UN delegations was held on March 14-15 while the US and Jordan participated as observers.

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