FM Zarif to meet Assad in Damascus today

Heading a high-ranking political delegation, Zarif departed for a two-day official visit to Syria on Tuesday, upon the official invitation of the Syrian president.

The visit is a follow-up on the constant negotiations between Iran and Syria on bilateral ties, including the agreements made between Assad and President Hassan Rouhani during the Syrian president's visit to Iran earlier in February.

Syrian President Bashar Assad made an unannounced visit to Iran, he met with the leader of Islamic Revolution Seyed Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials including President Hassan Rouhani to discuss mutual relations as well as the planned US troop withdrawal and efforts to set up a buffer zone in northern Syria.

The Iranian diplomat is also slated to hold talks with other senior Syrian officials, including his counterpart Walid Muallem and Speaker of the People’s Council of Syria Hammouda Youssef Sabbagh.

The two sides will talk over the latest regional and international developments and explore the avenues for preserving the peace in the region.

Zarif will leave Syria for Turkey next to hold separate talks with the country’s senior officials. His visit to Turkey comes a week before the Astana-format Syrian settlement talks, which will be held in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan on April 25-26, in attendance of the Iranian, Turkish and Russian officials.

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