UN special envoy to Syria to visit Iran Sunday

UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura is scheduled to travel to Tehran on Sunday to discuss with Iranian officials ways of settling the Syrian crisis, Iran’s Foreign Ministry says.

Earlier on Friday, de Mistura praised Iran’s role on the ongoing crisis in Syria, stressing that the Syrian crisis should be settled through political approaches.

In mid-July, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed de Mistura as the new UN envoy to Syria to replace Lakhdar Brahimi.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011. Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey -- are reportedly supporting the militants operating in Syria.

More than 191,000 people have been killed in over three years of fighting in the war-ravaged country, says the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), calling the figure a probable “underestimate of the real total number of people killed.”

While observers underline the importance of Iran’s role as a key regional player to help resolve the Syrian crisis, the US and its regional allies accuse Iran of inciting conflict in the Arab country and oppose Tehran’s involvement in settling the crisis.

Iran has repeatedly dismissed the allegations and insisted that its support for the Syrian nation merely involves humanitarian aid.