Russia, Iran to Continue Diplomatic Coordination at Vienna Talks on Syria

The Foreign ministries of Russia and Iran stressed the need to continue their diplomatic coordination at the forthcoming Vienna talks on Syria reconciliation, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, held negotiations earlier in the day in Moscow.

"Following the consultations, the importance of further coordination between Moscow and Tehran in regional affairs was stressed, including within the format of the Vienna Syrian Support Group," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The statement added that both sides had called for “coordinated efforts by the international community to counter the threat” from the Islamic State jihadist group, the Nusra Front and other extremist groups and called for direct negotiation between the Syrian government and the country's opposition factions to be organized without delay.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the country’s government fighting a number of opposition factions and radical Islamist militant organizations.

On October 30, top diplomats from almost 20 countries, including Russia and the United States, as well as UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, met in the Austrian capital of Vienna to discuss efforts to end to the four-year war in Syria. A second round of international talks on the Syrian crisis will be held in Vienna on Saturday.