Tehran announced its support for the resumption of rapprochement talks between Ankara and Damascus.
Following a meeting on Monday in Damascus with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad, Iranian Foreign Minister’s senior advisor for special political affairs, Ali Asghar Khaji, said that his country is “pleased” with the resumption of Turkish-Syrian discussions.
He noted that Tehran supports this path to resolve problems through “political dialogue, away from military methods.”
The Iranian official stressed that the first meetings between Syria and Türkiye were held in Tehran, and then continued in a quadripartite manner. He pointed to the need to hold more talks, “so that we can witness further development in relations between the two countries.”
Asghar Khaji, whose statements were broadcast on Syrian state television, indicated that his meeting with Al-Miqdad touched on the latest developments in Syria and the region.
He also revealed that Monday’s meeting discussed economic affairs, the return of refugees to Syria, and the fight against terrorism.
The visit of the Iranian official and his delegation came without prior announcement. It came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed his determination to continue his steadfast support for Syria in its endeavor “to defend its sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity and to ensure its national security and stability”.
Putin’s confirmation came in response to a telegram from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Russian-Syrian relations.
Sources in Damascus said that Putin’s remarks came after statements exchanged between the Turkish and Syrian sides “cooled” regarding the rapprochement. This suggested that Damascus and Ankara’s sitting at the negotiating table, mediated by Baghdad and pushed by Moscow and Arab countries, had become “imminent.”
The sources added that these developments prompted Washington, which had ignored the accelerating diplomatic normalization pace between Ankara and Damascus, to hint to its objection to any rapprochement that would strengthen Iran’s influence in Syria and work to remove the US forces from the country.
On Sunday, media websites quoted US officials as saying that the administration of President Joe Biden is “indifferent” to the rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus. The former US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, also considered that it was impossible to separate Iraq’s mediation between Ankara and Damascus from Tehran’s goal of removing US forces from Syria.
