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Most of initiatives in Astana format proved to be successful — Iranian expert

The 15th international Astana-format meeting on Syria is being held in Sochi on February 16-17

TEHERAN, February 16. /TASS/. Most of the initiatives within the Astana format in Syria were successful, Hassan Behishtipoor of the Institute for Iran-Eurasia Studies (IRAS) told TASS on Tuesday.

"I think that about 70-80% of [joint initiatives] were successful. Thus, one of the reasons behind the defeat of Islamic State (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) and terrorist groups [in Syria] was cooperation between Turkey, Iran, and Russia," he said.

"Thanks to their cooperation, Moscow, Teheran, and Ankara were able to put an end to the Syrian crisis," the expert said. "Despite the fact that Turkey’s, Russia’s and Iran’s views about Syria’s future differ, they managed to reach an agreement. And the basis for cooperation was laid in Astana."

The 15th international Astana-format meeting on Syria is being held in Sochi on February 16-17. The previous meeting in this format was held in December 2019 in Nur-Sultan.