Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hussein Amir Abdollahian lashed out at the attempts made by Saudi Arabia and Jordan to hold sideline meetings on Syria

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hussein Amir Abdollahian lashed out at the attempts made by Saudi Arabia and Jordan to hold sideline meetings on Syria, warning that such moves could harm the efforts made by around 20 nations under the Vienna declaration to resolve the Syrian crisis.

"Attempts to hold periphery meetings on Syria in Saudi Arabia and Jordan are outside (against) the Vienna declaration and they divert the political efforts made in Vienna on Syria from their natural course and push (the outcome of) the Vienna (III) meeting into failure," Amir Abdollahian told FNA on Thursday.

The Iranian deputy foreign minister reiterated that these are just the Syrian people who are entitled to decide their own fate.

Amir Abdollahian also underlined that "campaign against terrorism in the region and Syria needs the serious determination of countries".

"This meeting (the Vienna talks) is slated for two to three weeks from now: it will be held either in Vienna or Pars, but its exact location is not known yet," Amir Abdollahian told reporters.

He pointed to Iran's viewpoints on Vienna meetings, and said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran believes in summing up the fight against terrorism in Syria and following up the political trend in the Arab country."

On November 4, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif underscored that the Vienna II conference on Syria was a good beginning to find a political solution to the crisis in the war-hit Arab country.

The first round of fresh talks on Syria was held in the Austrian capital of Vienna on October 30. Senior diplomats from a number of countries, including Iran, as well as envoys from the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) were present in the event.