\DOHA, December 3. /TASS/. High-ranking officials from Russia, Iran, Turkey and Qatar are likely to meet for talks regarding the current developments in Syria on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
"It is likely that a meeting involving representatives from Qatar, Iran, Turkey and Russia will be held in Doha next week to discuss the situation in Syria," Al Jazeera quoted the Iranian foreign minister as saying.
Iranian Fars news agency later specified referring to Araghchi that the possible meeting could be held on the sidelines of the Doha Forum on December 7-8 with the participation of the top diplomats of four countries.
On December 2, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced plans to revive the Astana Format and hold a ministerial meeting between Turkey, Russia and Iran in the nearest future to regarding the settlement of the situation in Syria. He also said that this issue had been discussed during his conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Syria has been in conflict since 2011. The Astana talks, also known as the Astana format, have been ongoing since 2017, with 21 meetings held to date. The Astana format includes Russia, Iran, and Turkey as guarantor countries in the process of resolving the Syrian crisis, alongside representatives of the Syrian government and opposition, the United Nations, and observer countries: Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq.
On the morning of November 27, the Jabhat al-Nusra extremist group (banned in Russia) launched a large-scale attack on a broad front in northern Syria. According to a statement by the Syrian Armed Forces’ Command, the terrorists attempted to attack villages and towns under the protection of the Syrian army and military facilities, continuing to target government forces' positions. The Syrian army launched an operation to repel the raid.
On November 30, the country’s armed forces’ command stated that the army was conducting strikes on the positions of terrorists who had infiltrated many neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo and was awaiting reinforcements. According to the Syrian Defense Ministry’s statement, the army was forced to reorganize its forces to protect the lives of civilians and troops and prepare for a counterattack.