Iran denies excluding Assad from guarantor countries’ talks

North-Press Agency

Yesterday, Sunday, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied its participation in any discussions and plans with Ankara and Moscow regarding Astana, which plans for a Syrian future without Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, "The news which circulated about drawing the future of Syria through the Astana track does not reflect the truth," according to the state-run Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

Mousavi stressed that "the Tehran administration always stands beside the Syrian state and its people," following "any decision regarding the future of Syria, which the Syrian people must make.”

Russian media recently reported that Moscow, Ankara, and Tehran planned to form an interim government in Syria that includes opposition forces and excludes Assad.

Through the Astana track, Turkey, Russia, and Iran aim to reach a political solution that includes all parties in Syria and ends the nine-year-long civil war.

These leaks come at a time when the relationship between Moscow and Damascus is lukewarm due to Syrian government policies and Damascus’s rejection of any solutions that detract from its powers. This is compounded by its inability to stop the state of lawlessness and corruption spread in the areas under its control, which raises Russia's fears of losing everything it has achieved through its direct intervention in Syria since 2015.