TEHRAN - Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari said on Monday that Syria has called for addressing violations of the agreements reached in previous rounds of talks in Astana between the government and opposition groups.

Jaberi Ansari made the remarks as a new round of talks on the Syria conflict began in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Monday.

Iran, Turkey and Russia brokered the Astana dialogue on Syria and the first five rounds of the talks were held on January 23-24, February 15-16, March 14-15, May 3-4 and July 4-5.

The sixth round of talks were held on September 13-15.

Jaberi Ansari arrived in Astana on Sunday to attend the seventh round of talks.

Iran and Syria have been supporting the Syrian government while Turkey has been on the side of the opposition.

According to the Kazakh Foreign Ministry, on Monday the mediators – Iran, Russia, and Turkey – and opposition forces held bilateral and trilateral talks.

“During the bilateral talks with the Syrian delegation headed by Bashar Jaafari [Syria’s permanent representative to the UN], agenda of trilateral talks, latest developments in Syria and issues related to former agreements on Idlib were discussed,” he told IRNA after a meeting with the Syrian delegation in Astana.

According to reports, delegations from the Syrian government and armed opposition groups as well as the three guarantor states are present at the talks. So are representatives from the UN, Jordan, and the U.S.

In the fourth round of the talks a document on creating de-escalation zones in Syria was signed.

According to the document, the de-escalation zones include Idlib province and part of the provinces of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo, the area to the north of Homs, Eastern Ghouta, as well as Deraa and Quneitra provinces in southern Syria.

NA/PA