Turkey, Russia, Iran to hold Syria talks next week

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (C), Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attend a meeting on Syria in Astana on March 16, 2018. (File/AFP)
Updated 19 November 2018
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Turkey, Russia, Iran to hold Syria talks next week

ASTANA: Russia, Iran and Turkey will hold the next round of talks on Syria's conflict on November 28-29 in the Kazakh capital Astana, Kazakhstan's foreign minister said on Monday.
"The participants plan to discuss the current situation in Syria, in particular in Idlib, creating conditions for the return of refugees and internally displaced people, and post-conflict reconstruction," Kairat Abdrakhmanov said in Astana.
The meeting will be the 11th in the Astana peace process -- set up in early 2017 by Russia and Iran, who support President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, and opposition backer Turkey.
Abdrakhmanov said representatives of Damascus and armed opposition groups would take part, but did not specify what level of officials from Russia, Iran and Turkey would attend.
The Astana process was launched after Russia's military intervention in Syria tipped the balance in the regime's favour. It has gradually eclipsed an earlier UN-sponsored negotiations framework known as the Geneva process.
This month's meeting comes with continued violence threatening plans for a buffer zone around Idlib, the last major opposition stronghold in Syria.
Russia and Turkey agreed in September to set up the buffer zone to avert a Syrian regime offensive, but jihadists who hold around 70 percent of the area have refused to withdraw.
Fighting in the area has continued, with jihadists on Friday killing 22 regime fighters in an attack on government forces in the northwest of Hama province near the planned zone.


Iran’s foreign minister heads to Muscat for nuclear talks with US

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. (File/AFP)
Updated 06 February 2026
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Iran’s foreign minister heads to Muscat for nuclear talks with US

  • Iran will engage in ‌the talks “with authority ‍and with ‍the aim of reaching a fair, ‍mutually acceptable and dignified understanding on the nuclear issue,” a spokesperson said

TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has departed for the Omani capital ​Muscat at the head of a diplomatic delegation for nuclear talks with the US due to be held on Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson said.
The US and Iran ‌have agreed ‌to hold ‌talks ⁠in ​Oman ‌on Friday, officials for both sides said, even as they remain at odds over Washington’s insistence that negotiations must include Tehran’s missile arsenal and Iran’s vow to discuss ⁠only its nuclear program.
Iran will engage in ‌the talks “with authority ‍and with ‍the aim of reaching a fair, ‍mutually acceptable and dignified understanding on the nuclear issue,” the spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Thursday.
“We hope the ​American side will also participate in this process with responsibility, ⁠realism and seriousness,” Baghaei added.