Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian will leave Tehran for Moscow on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing Syria crisis as well as bilateral ties.


In his visit to Moscow, the Iranian official is scheduled to meet and hold talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on the Syria unrest and peaceful solutions to settle the crisis.

Amir-Abdollahian will also hold talks with senior Russian officials on the Geneva 2 conference on Syria.

The Iranian official’s visit to Moscow comes as top Russian officials have underlined the need for Iran’s presence in the conference, stressing that the international event would not bear fruit in the absence of the Islamic Republic.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said at a press conference on June 6 that Moscow will continue to push for Iran’s participation in the conference despite opposition from some Western states.

Late last month, Lavrov had stressed the necessity of Tehran’s presence in the upcoming Geneva talks, saying, “The issue of Iran is key for us. Iran, without question, is one of the most important nations.”

On May 7, Russia and the United States agreed in Moscow to convene an international conference on Syria, which will serve as a follow-up to an earlier Geneva meeting held in June 2012.

The unrest in Syria erupted over two years ago and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Iran has repeatedly expressed its opposition to any foreign intervention in Syria's internal affairs, stressing that inclusive dialog and national reconciliation as well as free elections are the keys to resolving the unrest in the Arab country.
 

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