RNA - On Wednesday night, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan sat down for three-way talks with his Russian and Syrian counterparts, Sergei Shoigu and Fahd Jassem al-Freij, on the sidelines of the VI Moscow Conference on International Security.
During the talks, the three sides exchanged views on the latest developments in Syria as well as the counterterrorism operations underway in the crisis-hit country.
They also called for “convergent efforts” by Tehran, Moscow and Damascus towards uprooting violence and Takfiri terrorism.
The trio also slammed a recent US missile attack against a Syrian army airfield as well as Washington’s blatant support for terrorists, urging an end to such evil acts of violence, which facilitate the spread of terror activities to elsewhere in the Middle East region and the entire world.
All forces should be mobilized to restore peace to Syria and protect the country’s territorial integrity in the face of terrorists, the defense ministers said.
In June 2016, the three senior military officials held a similar meeting in the Iranian capital, Tehran, where they agreed to step up trilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
Syria has been the scene of a foreign-sponsored crisis since March 2011. Backed by a number of Western states and their regional allies, a myriad of terrorist outfits have been operating there to topple the legitimate and elected government in Damascus.
Tehran and Moscow have been supporting Syria in its counter-terrorism battles over the past years, facilitating many army gains on the battlefield.
Iran and Russia have been offering military advisory assistance to the Syrian army, while Moscow also provides air cover to the government’s ground operations on several fronts.
Dehqan and Shoigu also held a separate meeting Wednesday on the sidelines of the Moscow conference to discuss bilateral defense ties as well as the situation in Syria.
The two sides held talks on ways to bolster the implementation of the ceasefire which has been in place across Syria since last December, stressing that ground should be prepared for easier aid deliveries to violence-stricken Syrians.
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