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UN envoy receives assurance Saudi-Iran row not to affect Syrian peace talks

Xinhua, January 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

A UN envoy said Sunday that Iran and Saudi Arabia have assured him that their row would not affect their engagement in Syrian peace talks to be held later this month.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura concluded his trip to Iran on Sunday after making "useful exchanges" with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his deputy, said a statement from de Mistrua's spokesperson in Geneva.

"Like he had done when he visited Saudi Arabia on 5 January, he asked and obtained the assurance of his interlocutors that current tensions in the region would not affect the engagement of their government in supporting the Vienna process and facilitating the holding of the Geneva Talks," it said.

The envoy will brief UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and seek his guidance in view of the beginning of the talks.

"He looks forward to the International Syria Support Group and the Security Council continuing to provide serious and consistent engagement, in order to ensure the beginning, on 25 January, of genuine political discussions aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis," said the statement.

De Mistura met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem in Damascus on Saturday.

Mediators have been trying to hold peace talks involving both the Syrian government and the various opposition groups. It has been scheduled for Jan. 25 in Geneva.

The peace talks were part of an international bid endorsed by the UN Security Council to end the conflict in Syria, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people over the past years.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are currently locked in a diplomatic row over Sunni-majority Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric, along with 46 others over terror charges.

The executions have sent large number of Iranians onto the street, while some of them stormed Saudi diplomatic missions in capital Tehran and the northeastern city of Mashhad. Later, Riyadh cut its diplomatic ties with Tehran over the attack on its embassy. The row between the two regional powers has raised concern over whether the Syrian and Yemeni peace process will be affected. Enditem