Iran, UN Discuss Int’l Conference on Syrian Refugees

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen and Senior Assistant to Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs in Special Political Affairs Ali-Asghar Khaji held talks on the latest developments in Syria on Monday morning.

The UN envoy briefed the Iranian diplomat on the results of his recent negotiations about Syria in a number of regional countries.

Pedersen and Khaji also talked about the latest progress in holding the next meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, hoping that the fourth session of the committee would convene in the near future.

The two officials further discussed issues surrounding a conference on the return of Syrian refugees and displaced persons, due to be held in Damascus later this month.

In the Monday talks, the Senior Assistant to Iranian Foreign Minister emphasized the necessity of addressing the problems of Syrian refugees and displaced persons as a humanitarian issue that would build trust among the Syrian sides.

Highlighting the positive impacts that the upcoming conference would have on the political settlement of the crisis in Syria, Khaji called for the international community’s active participation in the conference.

Last week, Russia proposed to jointly host the international conference on the return of refugees in the Syrian capital.

A high-level Russian delegation proposed the idea during a meeting with Syria's Bashar Assad on October 29.

The proposed dates for the Russia-sponsored conference are November 11-12.