Syrian Opposition Denies Claims of Opposing Iran's Address at Astana Talks

Syrian opposition has nothing against Iran addressing the parties during the opening session of Astana talks, member of the opposition’s delegation Yahya Aridi told Sputnik on Monday, refuting media allegations.

ASTANA (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day media reported that the opposition was against Iran speaking at the opening of the talks.

"It’s part of the protocol, it will go as it was established," Aridi said.

The Syrian government and the armed opposition are negotiating behind the closed doors. Damascus delegation is set to speak first, followed by the armed opposition, Russia, Iran, Turkey, the United States and the United Nations. The political opposition said earlier on Monday that their delegation would not participate in the talks, but would wait for the results of the negotiations.

This is the first time, when Damascus and the armed opposition sit together at the negotiating table since the start of the conflict in the Arab country. Kazakh side expects the meeting to last through Tuesday.