Iran’s President:

US Syria Withdrawal Good News If True

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani underlined the need for respecting Syria’s territorial integrity and said an announced US plan to withdraw troops from Syria would be good if it actually took place.

News ID: 75589

Date: 14 February 2019 - 15:48

If it is true, this is good news, he said Thursday, adding that Iran will never trust the words and promises of American officials, RIA Novosti reported.

According to him, Iran considers it important to preserve the integrity of the Syrian territory, and therefore declared that the entire territory of Syria should be controlled by Damascus.

The Syrian government should conduct a dialogue with the Kurds, he said.

He left for Russia on Thursday to attend a tripartite summit in Sochi.

Rouhani and his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, plan to meet in the Russia resort city later on today to provide further coordination among the three countries.

The three leaders will concentrate on the long-term settlement of the Syrian crisis.

The summit will be held before the 12th Astana talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana. The first round of the Astana talks commenced a month after the three guarantors joined efforts and brought about an all-Syria ceasefire.

Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara have been mediating peace negotiations between representatives from the Damascus government and Syrian opposition groups in a series of rounds held in Astana and other places since January 2017. The talks are collectively referred to as the Astana peace process.

Iran, Russia, and Turkey,  which have committed to guaranteeing negotiated peace in Syria, have been negotiating a settlement for Idlib. Ankara represents Syrian opposition interests, and Tehran and Moscow are Damascus allies.

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