TEHRAN- Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, says the purpose of a tripartite summit in Tehran on Tuesday is to help restore peace and stability to the war-torn Syria.

“The return of Syrian refugees to their homes and cities as well as facilitating establishment of peace, stability and security in Syria are among the main topics on the agenda of this tripartite summit,” the top diplomat announced on Monday.

The Iranian foreign minister remarked that “I conveyed a message from Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and we tried to manage the current security crisis that is brewing between Turkey and Syria” during his recent trip to Turkey and Syria.

He went on to say that “we tried to settle this crisis and allay Turkey's security concern through the political path.” 

He then alluded to Turkey's preparations to begin military operations in a 30-kilometer-deep security zone on the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

"Naturally, under the current sensitive circumstances, one of the issues on the agenda of the Tehran summit is that instead of resorting to war and witnessing the subsequent displacement of Syrian people, we can help solve this issue through political channels," Amir Abdollahian added. 

On Tuesday, Tehran hosted the seventh summit of the Astana peace talks on Syria with the participation of Vladimir Putin of Russia and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad was set to visit Tehran on Tuesday as well.

The Astana peace process was established in January 2017 to resolve the Syrian crisis by involving both the Syrian government and the opposition. Iran and Russia are supporters of the Syrian government, while Turkey takes sides with the opposition.

18 rounds of negotiations between the three governments have already taken place in Astana, now renamed Nur-Sultan, in Kazakhstan. 

Participants in the 18th Astana-format international conference on Syria reaffirmed their unwavering support for Syria's territorial integrity and sovereignty as well as their firm opposition to Israeli aggression and crimes in the country that is racked by civil strife.