Rouhani, Putin, Erdogan likely to meet in Tehran on Syria in Sep.

TEHRAN, May 16 (MNA) – Presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey are likely to hold a summit on Syria in Tehran sometime in late August or September, Russian delegation head at the Astana peace talks, Alexander Lavrentiev said Tuesday. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Russian delegation head at the Astana peace talks, Alexander Lavrentiev, said presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey are likely to meet sometime in late August or September to further discuss the settlement of the Syrian situation. He did not mention the exact date for the summit expected to be hosted by Tehran, since Ankara would soon hold a working group meeting with representatives from Iran, Russia and Turkey on working out the conflict in Syria. According to a joint statement issued by the tripartite countries at the 9th round of Astana talks on Syria, the third meeting of the "Working Group on the release of detainees/abductees and handover of the bodies as well as the identification of missing persons by three Guarantors' representatives with the participation of the UN and ICRC experts" will be held in Ankara in June 2018. Lavrentiev added that the next high-level meeting on Syria will be held in Russian resort city of Sochi in July 2018. Presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey last held a tripartite meeting on Syria on 4 April 2018 in Ankara. At the Ankara summit, the leaders of the three guarantor states reached an agreement to hold the next summit in Tehran.