Iran’s foreign minister says the fate of the Astana peace process aimed at resolving the Syria crisis hinges on developments in the Arab country and decisions by the guarantor states, namely Iran, Russia and Turkey.
Abbas Araghchi made the remarks on Monday, a day after foreign-backed militants, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), captured the Syrian capital Damascus and announced the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Asked whether the Syrian militants will attend the next round of the Astana format talks, he said the Syrian government has never been present at the process that only included Iran, Russia and Turkey.
“Whether the [Astana peace] process will continue in the future or not depends on developments and decisions of the three [guarantor] countries,” he said following a closed session of the Iranian Parliament on the recent developments in Syria.
Araghchi and his Russian and Turkish counterparts met on Saturday as part of the Astana format on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in the Qatari capital.