Iran FM to meet with Assad as Syria showdown looms

| | Beirut
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Iran FM to meet with Assad as Syria showdown looms

Tuesday, 04 September 2018 | AP | Beirut

Iran’s Foreign Minister held talks with officials  in Syria on Monday as Syrian forces and their allies prepare for  an assault on the last opposition stronghold in the country.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry and Iran’s State-run IRNA news agency  said Mohammad Javad Zarif was received by Deputy Foreign Minister  Faisal Mekdad upon his arrival in Damascus, and was to meet later with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Iran has lent crucial military and economic support to Assad throughout  the seven-year civil war and the discussions are expected to focus  on the looming battle for Idlib.

Assad has vowed to defeat the opposition in its last refuge in the  northwestern province if the rebels do not surrender to Government  rule.

Idlib and the surrounding area is home to some 3 million people   nearly half of them already displaced more than once by the civil  war — choosing to live in opposition areas.

UN officials believe an offensive on Idlib would trigger a wave  of displacement that could uproot an estimated 800,000 people and  discourage refugees from returning home.

Thousands of government troops and allied fighters have been massing  in areas surrounding the province.

The leaders of Iran, Turkey, and Russia are expected to meet in  Iran this week to discuss the situation in Syria.

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