UN chief seeks Iran's support on resuming Syria, Yemen peace talks

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and sought Iran's support in the efforts to resume peace talks on Syria and Yemen.

"The secretary-general stressed the need to find a political solution to the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, and sought Iran's support in facilitating the resumption of peace talks for both countries," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual high-level debate of the UN General Assembly, which opened here Tuesday and runs through Sept. 26.

The secretary-general said that the Houthis needed to come to the table in a spirit of pragmatism and compromise, and he urged Iran to encourage them in this respect, the spokesman said. "The same applied with regard to the Government of Syria."

Meanwhile, Ban also underlined the importance of the full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, and Security Council resolution 2231, adopted in 2015, the spokesman said.

In July, Ban called for comprehensive implementation of the agreement between Iran and major world powers on Iranian nuclear issues, one year after the Security Council endorsed the deal.

On July 20 last year, the Security Council adopted a resolution to endorse the JCPOA, clinched between Iran and P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany.

According to the resolution, the council will terminate its sanctions against Iran upon receiving a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency that verifies Iran's fulfillment of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA. Endit