Putin and Rouhani confirm the necessity for the comprehensive implementation of the Astana agreement

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani stressed in a telephone call on Saturday the necessity for the comprehensive implementation of the Astana agreement.

During the phone call, Rouhani underlined the importance of implementing the Astana agreement as soon as possible and uprooting terrorism from Idlib, the Iranian news agency (IRNA) reported.

Rouhanis  pointed to the need not to allow the situation in Idlib to become a pretext for American interference in Syrian affairs, indicating that “it is unacceptable that a part of the Syrian territories to be under the control of the terrorists for many years”.

President Rouhani reiterated that there is no way to solve the crisis in Syria except politically.

President Rouhani made it clear that Tehran is ready to host the trilateral meeting between Iran, Russia and Turkey in order to continue the Astana process.

The Astana meetings began in the Kazakh capital early 2017 and held fourteen meetings, one of which was in the Russian city of Sochi. The Astana meetings  entirely affirmed the firm commitment to preserve the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Syria and to continue the war on terrorist organizations until its final defeat.

In the same context, President Putin informed his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, in a similar contact that he will discuss with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow all aspects of a political solution to the crisis in Syria, according to a Kremlin statement.

Inas Abdulkareem