Press release on Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov’s working visit to Iran

On August 15, Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is currently in Teheran on a working visit, was received by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and participated in a regular round of consultations with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari.

The officials exchanged opinions on current issues in the Middle East and North Africa. Special attention was paid to the situation in and around Syria. They stressed that the protracted Syrian crisis has no military solution and can be settled only by political means and an inclusive intra-Syrian dialogue on the basis of the Geneva communiqué of June 30, 2012, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and statements of the International Syria Support Group. In this context, the officials stressed the need for the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to work diligently to rapidly establish stable intra-Syrian talks in Geneva without preconditions.

The officials also affirmed the support of Moscow and Teheran for maintaining and promoting the ceasefire in Syria while continuing an uncompromising struggle against ISIS, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) and other terrorist organisations that are not covered by the ceasefire.

They discussed a number of other important issues of the regional agenda as well, including developments in Yemen, Iraq and the Persian Gulf, as well as Palestinian issues.

The latest round of consultations affirmed that there is mutual interest in further promoting Russian-Iranian dialogue at the Foreign Ministry level on the whole range of Middle East issues.