Iran says Astana meeting crucial to maintain truce in Syria: spokesman

TEHRAN, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) — The inter-Syria meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan would help maintain truce and pave the way to find a political solution for Syria crisis, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said on Monday.

Reinforcing truce is considered as the main topic to be discussed during the two-day meeting in Astana, Qasemi said in his weekly press briefing.

The meeting would also serve as a means to facilitate the dispatch of humanitarian aid to the Arab country, he said.

The talks are the result of a Russian-Turkish initiative which excluded terror-designated groups such as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State group.