The presidents of Iran, Russia, and Turkey held the seventh summit of the Astana Process — which seeks to establish a political solution for Syria to end the US-backed war — in the Iranian capital Tehran on 19 July.
All three agreed that military conflict cannot resolve the Syrian crisis, but will only worsen it, and that a political solution must be put forth to resolve conflicts between Damascus and foreign-backed opposition groups.
“I would like to emphasize the basic and unchangeable principles we share on the topic of Syria, which is the need to maintain territorial integrity and cohesion, respect for the national sovereignty and independence of the Syrian Arab Republic, and determine the fate of this country only by the hands of its people through Syrian-Syrian dialogues and without foreign interference,” Iranian President Sayyed Ebrahim Raisi said.
The issue of sanctions against Syria, which severely worsens the standard of living for citizens, were denounced at the summit.
“Unilateral sanctions and economic terrorism violate international law and the sovereignty of countries, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, while condemning any sanctions against nations, especially the Syrian nation, declares that it will continue to support the people and government of Syria with greater strength,” Raisi declared.
The summit also noted the destabilizing effect of the US occupation of Syria, which began in 2014 under the guise of fighting against ISIS militants. The US has also financed and armed the rebel insurgency in Syria since 2011.
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the theft of Syrian natural resources, such as oil, by occupation forces such as the US.
Putin also called on the UN to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria without any preconditions. Russia recently vetoed a UN resolution on humanitarian aid to Syria due to its violation of Syrian sovereignty.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed with the statements of the Iranian and Russian leaders, adding “we are all like-minded concerning [the fact] that the Syrian crisis can only be resolved through political solutions.”