BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The minister ruled out the participation of the Daesh and the al-Nusra Front representatives in the political resolution of the conflict in Syria.
"We agreed that the fight against terrorist organizations, in particular the Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front, will not be stopped," he said after a meeting in Brussels with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
Zarif argued that the process of peaceful settlement of the Syrian conflict "has been launched, but some forces decided to withdraw from it."
Since 2011, Syria has been mired in a civil war with forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting several opposition factions and extremist groups, including the Daesh and the al-Nusra Front, both outlawed in Russia.
On September 30, Russia began an anti-militants air campaign in Syria at the request of Assad, which was launched almost simultaneously to the creation of the Baghdad Information Center, established by Iran, Iraq, Syria and Russia to coordinate joint military action against Daesh. A US-led international coalition has been bombing Daesh targets since 2014, without Damascus' approval.
