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Top Iranian diplomat acknowledges disagreements with Turkey over Syria crisis

Ahead of his visit to Turkey, Abbas Araghchi said that despite their differences concerning the Syrian problem, Iran and Turkey should work together to prevent Syria from becoming a hotbed of instability in the region

DUBAI, December 2. /TASS/. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has acknowledged that Ankara and Tehran do not see eye to eye on how to settle the crisis in Syria.

"We agreed that Syria needs to move toward peace and stability and its territorial integrity and sovereignty must be preserved," he said after talks with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan. "Our conversation was quite frank and constructive. There are certainly differences in our viewpoints, but there are also shared perspectives."

"The big thing is that we have always discussed our disagreements and now have agreed to talk more to cooperate constructively in establishing stability in the region," he said.

Ahead of his visit to Turkey, Araghchi said that despite their differences concerning the Syrian problem, Iran and Turkey should work together to prevent Syria from becoming a hotbed of instability in the region.

Units of the Jabhat al-Nusra extremist group (outlawed in Russia) staged a large-scale attack on Syria’s northern governorates in the early hours on November 27. According to the Syrian government army command, the terrorists attempted to seize a number of neighborhoods and military facilities and attacked positions of government forces. The Syrian army launched an operation to repel the attack.

On November 30, the Syrian army command said that government forces were delivering strikes on terrorists’ positions in Aleppo. According to the Syrian defense ministry, the army had to regroup to save the lives of civilians and its troops and get prepared for a counterattack.