December 22, The Iran Project - Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari arrived in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, on Dec 20 to participate in the 8th round of Astana Talks.

High-ranking diplomats from Iran, Russia, and Turkey on Thursday began the eighth round of Syria peace talks brokered by the three countries in Astana.

Representatives of the Syrian government, armed opposition groups, as well as delegations from the UN, Jordan and the US are also participating in the talks.

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

While in Astana, Ansari, the head of Iranian delegation in Astana, held meetings with Syrian envoy to UN, Bashar al-Jaafari, Russian President Vladimir Putin�s Special Envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev as well as the Turkish delegation headed by Unal Cevikoz.

Ansari and al-Jaafari reviewed the Syrian settlement in the framework of Astana 8 meeting in Kazakhstan.

The two sides also exchanged views on the latest developments in Syria and discussed outlooks of holding intra-Syria dialogue to peacefully settle the Syrian crisis and also the agenda of the 8th round of talks.

Meanwhile, Ansari and Lavrentiev discussed bilateral ties and regional developments, especially Syria and reviewed issues related to fighting terrorism, holding Syria's National Dialogue Congress and also urgent humanitarian issues.

Jaberi Ansari and the Turkish official exchanged views on the latest developments in Syria, and the agreements reached between the three guarantor states (Iran, Russia, Turkey) on the Syrian National Dialogue Congress and the role of Astana process in advancing international efforts aimed at establishing peace across Syria.

Jaberi Ansari and Unal also stressed the need for facilitating trust-building measures between the two sides of the conflict in Syria in a bid to resolve issues related to the transfer of detainees, kidnapped and the remains of any deceased.

Eventually, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia and Turkey kicked off the new round of talks on Syria in Astana to �guarantee ceasefire in Syria.

In this round of talks various issues such as preparing Syrian national dialogue conference, swapping arrested and abducted people and bodies of killed people from both sides, demining of the affected areas and preserving the country's cultural heritage were addressed.

At the end of this round of talks representatives of three peace-guarantor countries issued a joint statement aimed at reaffirming their strong and continued commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and welcomed progress in the implementation of the Memorandum on the creation of the de-escalation areas in the Syrian Arab Republic of 4 May 2017.