TEHRAN: The top diplomats from Iran, Turkiye and Russia met in Qatar on Saturday for talks on Syria, where rebel forces have taken parts of the country in a lightning offensive.
After the discussions in Doha with his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Sergei Lavrov and Hakan Fidan, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the parties agreed on the initiation of “political dialogue between the Syrian government and the legitimate opposition groups”.
The three countries have been involved since 2017 in the so-called Astana format talks seeking a political settlement in Syria.
However, the situation in the country has changed dramatically in recent days after rapid gains by rebel forces who oppose Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
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On Saturday, a commander with the alliance that launched the new offensive said “our forces have begun the final phase of encircling the capital”, though the Syrian defence ministry said “there is no truth to news claiming” the army had withdrawn from positions near Damascus.
Ahead of the meeting, Araghchi said he had “very frank and direct” talks with his Turkish counterpart and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who this week called on Assad to “reconcile with his people”, said Friday he “hoped the advance of the rebels would continue without incident”, identifying Damascus as their objective.
Qatar, meanwhile, supported the rebels at the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, but is now calling for a negotiated end to the conflict.
On November 27, a coalition of rebels led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched an offensive from its stronghold in Idlib, seizing dozens of localities and the strategic cities of Aleppo and Hama, among others.
Araghchi said during a joint press conference with his Iraqi and Syrian counterparts in Baghdad on Friday that the offensive in Syria poses a “threat” to the whole Middle East. “This threat will not be limited to Syria and will affect Syria’s neighbouring countries such as Iraq, Jordan, and Turkiye,” he added.
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