TEHRAN - Hossein Jaberi Ansari, the top aide to Iran’s foreign minister, said on Tuesday that during the Sochi conference the sides agreed on a mechanism that the displaced Syrians start returning home.

The Syrian Army’s victories over terrorists have made it possible to bring up the issue of the return of displaced people to their country, Jaberi Ansari told IRNA at the end of the Sochi meeting on Syria.

The conference on Monday and Tuesday was a continuation of the Astana talks which was held in Sochi, Russia.

It was the tenth round of talks attended by Iran, Russia, Turkey, the Syrian government and the opposition.

Russia and Iran back the Syrian government and Turkey supports the opposition.

The senior diplomat said the return of Syrians to their country was a main topic of talks in Sochi, adding that during the 10 round of talks on Syria between Iran, Russia, Turkey, Syria and the opposition it was the first time such an issue was raised.
 
Most of the Syrian refugees live in Jordan and Lebanon.

Jaberi Ansari said before the recent Sochi conference talks were held with Jordanian and Lebanese officials about the return of Syrian refugees.

The Sochi meeting was attended by Iran, Russia, Turkey, the Syrian government and the opposition. Also present at the meeting was UN special envoy for Syria Steffano de Mistura.

Iran’s chief negotiator on Syria said Tuesday’s talks was the tenth of its kind on Syria that was held in Sochi instead of Astana, Kazakhstan.

Russia, Iran and Turkey were participating in the conference as guarantors of truce in Syria which has been in force since December 2016.

The meeting counts as a preliminary session for a next version of the Astana talks, whose first round took place in Sochi in January 2017.

NA/PA