TEHRAN - Hossein Amir Abdollahian, a senior foreign policy advisor to the Iranian Parliament speaker, has attached great importance to Iran-Turkey-Russia talks on Syria.

During a meeting with Syrian Ambassador to Tehran Adnan Mahmoud on Wednesday, Amir Abdollahian said that it is important to implement agreements reached in Iran-Turkey-Russia negotiations in the format of the Astana talks.

Pointing to situation around the northwestern province of Idlib, he said the crisis must be settled politically.

The Syrian diplomat, for his part, attached importance to cooperation with Iran.

He noted that Syria owes its success in defeating terrorism to the sacrifices made by its army and the support provided by Iran, Russia and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

In line with their security cooperation, Iran, Turkey and Russia - three power brokers in Syria - launched the Astana peace talks on the Syrian crisis. The talks were launched in January 2017 with the aim of putting an end to the Syrian conflict.

Kazakhstan has hosted multiple rounds of talks on Syria since January 2017 most of which involved delegations from the Syrian government and opposition.

Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Vershinin held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments in Syria, especially issues surrounding Idlib.

According to ISNA, the diplomats also insisted on the importance of close cooperation between Iran, Russia and Turkey within the framework of the Astana process to silence guns in Syria.

In a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 29, President Hassan Rouhani urged revitalization of the Astana process on Idlib.

In the phone call, Putin said that the Astana peace process has been “effective”.

On March 6, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin  announced a military ceasefire in Idlib, after a meeting in Moscow that lasted six hours.
Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in Syria, has witnessed increased violence and bloodshed since last December, the start of a Syrian offensive to regain control over the region. 
According to al Jazeera, Putin said Russia did not always agree with its Turkish partners but hoped the deal will serve as a "good basis for ending the fighting in the Idlib de-escalation zone, put an end to [the] suffering of [the] civilian population and contain a growing humanitarian crisis."

Even as the ceasefire came into effect, Turkey's state-owned Anadolu news agency reported that Turkish forces killed 21 Syrian troops and destroyed two artillery pieces and two missile launchers, in retaliation of the killing of two Turkish soldiers in Idlib earlier on Thursday.
 
NA/PA