Chemical weapons, foreign troops, top on the agenda of the latest Astana meeting on Syria

Tabnak – Iran, Russia, and Turkey - the guarantors of the observance of a ceasefire regime in Syria- in a joint statement at the conclusion of the International Meeting on Syria in Astana, reiterated their commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.

On thursady, the 11th round of the Astana talks published a closing statement, condemning any use of chemical arms in Syria and demanding a transparent probe into reports concerning the issue.

In the statement, Tehran, Moscow and Ankara, which are acting as the guarantors of an all-Syria ceasefire, reaffirmed their determination to fight terrorism in Syria and eliminate Daesh, Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist groups there.

The guarantor countries further "reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter."

So far, 11 rounds of Syria peace talks, mediated by Iran, Russia and Turkey, have been held in Astana. The 10th round of the discussions took place in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi back in July 30-31.

At the sidelines of Thursday’s meeting, Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar al-Ja'afari has called on all foreign forces, who are operating on Syrian soil without Damascus' consent, to leave the Arab country.

He accused the US, Britain, France and Turkey of dispatching troops to Syria illegally and occupying some areas in the war-torn state.

"There is a clear discrepancy in the stances taken by the US, France and Britain who have already agreed on the UN Security Council resolutions on commitment to Syria’s sovereignty; meanwhile these countries have been deploying their troops illegally in Syria,” he said.

He also expressed concerns about the illegal Turkish military presence in Syria in violation of Ankara's commitments in the Astana and Sochi agreements.

On Wednesday and within the framework of the same meeting, Russia warned that Daesh Takfiri terrorists had been planning a chemical weapons attack on the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed coalition of mainly Kurdish militants, in order to provoke an airstrike by the US-led coalition against the Syrian army.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that 11 terrorists trained abroad had arrived in Syria and are currently filling mines with chemical substances.

"The chemical munitions are planned to be used in an attack on the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces ... in the Hajin area of the Dayr al-Zawr Province," the statement read.

On April 7, an alleged chemical weapons attack hit the Damascus suburb town of Douma, just as the Syrian army was about to win the battle against the militants there. Western states blamed the Syrian government for the incident, but Damascus firmly rejected the accusation.

One week after the suspected gas attack, the US, Britain and France launched a coordinated missile strike against sites and research facilities near Damascus and Homs with the purported goal of paralyzing the Syrian government’s capability to produce chemicals.

This is while Syria surrendered its entire chemical stockpile in 2013 to a mission led by the OPCW and the UN.