Iran, Russia, Turkey vow to...

They also expressed their satisfaction with the outcomes of the first year of the Astana meetings held since January 2017. They underlined that the Astana format had been the only effective international initiative that had helped reduce violence across Syria, contributed to peace and stability in Syria, and gave impetus to the Geneva process in order to find a lasting political solution to the Syrian conflict.

The three presidents also said that the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, which was convened in the Black Sea city of Sochi on January 30, 2018, constituted an important milestone in paving the way for the political process and reiterated their commitment to follow up on the results of the congress.

They also decided to hold their next meeting in Iran. The Wednesday meeting between the three presidents was their second tripartite summit under six months aimed at speeding the peace process in Syria. The first meeting was hosted by Putin in November in Sochi.

Iran, Russia and Turkey have also backed peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, which are a parallel process to support Un-supported discussions in Geneva.

Addressing the summit, Rouhani said the Syrian region of Afrin, captured by Turkish forces, should be handed over to Syria’s Army.

“The developments in Afrin can only be useful if they do not violate Syria’s territorial integrity, and control of these areas should be handed over to the Syrian Army,” Rouhani said.

Rouhani also blamed the United States for backing Daesh terrorists in Syria and called on all countries to respect the independence of the Arab country. “Some countries, including America, support terrorist groups like Daesh in Syria, which serve these countries’ interests... Iran believes the Syrian crisis has no military solution and safeguarding independence of Syria is a priority for Tehran,” Rouhani said.

Press TV and Reuters contributed to this story.