Russia, Iran discuss war on terror

TEHRAN – Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin has exchanged views with top Iranian Intelligence Ministry officials about cooperation in the fight against terrorism, says SVR spokesman Sergei Ivanov.

“Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin has concluded his visit to Tehran. He discussed ways to boost cooperation in the fight against international terrorism and common security threats with senior officials at the Iranian Intelligence Ministry,” Ivanov pointed out, TASS reported on Wednesday.

Naryshkin also held a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. The parties exchanged views on global and regional security issues, as well as on cooperation between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Iran, Russia, and Turkey have said they are concerned about the increased presence of terrorist groups in Syria’s Idlib province.

The trio also said they rejected attempts to create “new realities on the ground, including illegitimate self-rule initiatives” and that they were opposed to the illegal seizure and transfer of Syrian oil revenues, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

They made the remarks in a joint statement after talks in Kazakhstan, pledging to coordinate actions aimed at eliminating the militants.

Commenting on the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, the three nations said it should be governed by a sense of “compromise and constructive engagement” without foreign interference and externally imposed timelines.

In line with their security cooperation, Iran, Turkey, and Russia launched the Astana peace talks on the Syrian crisis.

The Astana peace talks were launched on Jan. 23-24, 2017 with the aim of putting an end to the Syrian conflict.

Kazakhstan has hosted multiple rounds of talks on Syria since January 2017, backed by the three power brokers, most of which involved delegations from the Syrian government and opposition.

The 14th round of talks kicked off in Nursultan (formerly called Astana) on Wednesday, with a focus on technical issues, in the northern part of Syria, the area of Idlib, and the banks of the Euphrates.

MH/PA

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