Iran to join talks on potential Syria-Turkey detente: Ambassador

Iran's ambassador to Moscow says the Islamic Republic will be joining trilateral talks among Syria, Turkey, and Russia that will be aimed at the potential resolution of standing differences between Damascus and Ankara.

"Yes, we will join as well," Kazam Jalali told Russia's TASS news agency on Thursday in response to a relevant question.

The envoy, meanwhile, said Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was likely to travel to Moscow but said it was yet unclear when the trip would take place.

Jalali, however, expressed hope that Iran's participation in the three-way negotiations would take place before a potential ministerial meeting involving the Iranian top diplomat that is likewise expected to address the likelihood of normalization of relations between Syria and Turkey.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently announced that the Syrian, Turkish, and Russian foreign ministers would be holding a meeting in line with the countries' collective efforts to address existing disputes between Damascus and Ankara.

The Turkish chief executive said the countries' heads of state would be joining the talks too if the need arises.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also called it "reasonable" for Iran to join in mediating the talks between Syria and Turkey alongside Moscow, TASS reported.

Since 2016, Turkey has conducted three major ground operations against United States-backed militants based in northern Syria.

The Turkish government charges the militants, known as the People's Protection Units (YPG), with bearing ties with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) group, which has been fighting a hugely-deadly separatist war against Ankara for many decades.

Syria has denounced the Turkish operation as a direct violation of its sovereignty, saying it reserved the right to respond to the incursions as it sees fit.

ME