On September 5, 2018, Russian International Affairs Council on International Affairs (RIAC) and the Iranian and the Institute for Iran-Eurasia Studies (IRAS) held a seminar on the positions of Russia and Iran on the Syrian crisis. Ruslan Mamedov, RIAC Program Assistant, and Davood Kiani, First Deputy Director of the IRAS Institute, moderated the sessions.
On September 5, 2018, Russian International Affairs Council on International Affairs (RIAC) and the Iranian and the Institute for Iran-Eurasia Studies (IRAS) held an online seminar on the positions of Russia and Iran on the Syrian crisis. Ruslan Mamedov, RIAC Program Assistant, and Davood Kiani, First Deputy Director of the IRAS Institute, moderated the sessions.
The online seminar consisted of two sessions: presentations of the speakers and discussions of the parties (questions and answers).
The speakers on the Russian side included Vasily Kuznetsov, Director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies, RIAC expert, and Yuri Barmin, RIAC expert. The Iranian side was represented by Hamidreza Azizi, Assistant Professor of Regional Studies at Shahid Beheshti University, IRAS Research Associate, and Vali Golmohammadi, Visiting Professor at Tehran University and IRAS Research Associate.
Russian and Iranian experts discussed the situation in Idlib, the negotiation process for a peaceful resolution, the issues of post-war reconstruction, and scenarios for the development of the situation in Syria. The sides noted the need to move from discussing the military component of the Syrian crisis to a peaceful agenda, post-conflict recovery in the economic sphere, but also military construction. Experts consider it important to reach consensus between the guarantors of the Astana process and the Syrians themselves regarding the future of Syria in achieving sustainable peace.
