A fresh round of international talks aimed at resolving the ongoing crisis in Syria has started in the Austrian capital city of Vienna, with representatives from the Islamic Republic of Iran attending the conference.
Leaders from the Islamic Republic, the United States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, along with representatives from at least 12 other countries are also attending the talks. Those states are France, Germany, Egypt, Russia, Jordan, the UK, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq, Lebanon, China and Oman.
Envoys from the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) are also present at the talks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif heads Iran’s delegation during the one-day talks.
Zarif and his US and Russian counterparts, John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov, met in Vienna on Thursday evening ahead of the negotiations.
The Iranian foreign minister also met EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. Their talks focused both on the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program as well as regional issues.
