Iran mulls joining int'l talks on Syria: spokeswoman

Iran will consider attending the fresh international talks on the future of Syria which is to be held in the Austrian capital Vienna in the following days, Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

"Iran mulls over the participation in the upcoming talks" over Syria on Thursday and Friday, spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham Afkham told official IRNA news agency.

In the telephone conversation "on Tuesday and Wednesday, Iran and Russia's foreign ministers conferred over regional situation and Syrian crisis," she said.

On Tuesday, Iran was invited to the Syria talks for the first time since the outbreak of civil war in the country.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that "We have to have a conversation and a dialogue with Iran" over Syria and "It's up to Iran to decide whether they're going to or not."

Iran has emerged as a staunch regional ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government in the country's long-lasting conflict.

Washington has been against including Tehran in the political talks on Syria over the past years, seeing Tehran as "part of problem" in the crisis. Iran rejected the U.S. claims, accusing the latter of supporting terrorist groups in the Arab state.

On Tuesday, Afkham said that the United States "should stop its policy of supporting and nurturing of terrorists in Syria," according to Iran's Foreign Ministry website. Endit