Iran: Syria’s reconstruction must begin, refugees must return home

4 September 2018 10:36 (UTC+04:00)

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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Syria’s territorial integrity must be preserved and the process of reconstruction of the war-stricken country should begin soon.

“The territorial integrity of Syria must be maintained,” Zarif, who was on an official visit to Damascus, said on September 3, Tasnim news agency reported.

Noting that reconstruction process of the Arab country should begin under the Syrian flag, he said all those displaced should return home.

“The remnants of terrorists in the remaining regions of Idlib must be flushed out of the areas,” he said.

The foreign minister also pointed to an upcoming summit in Tehran between the presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey, and said the talks aim to bring a lasting solution to the ongoing crisis in Syria.

The three countries have so far held several rounds of peace talks in Kazakhstan’s Astana and elsewhere to help end the conflict in Syria. The fourth round of those talks in May 2017 produced a memorandum of understanding on de-escalation zones in Syria, sharply reducing fighting in the country.

Diplomatic efforts to end fighting in Syria gained momentum in 2017 with the announcement of a ceasefire in the Arab country in early January.

According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

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