Tasnim � Immediately after a 3-day visit to Pakistan, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday began a tour of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan for high-profile gatherings.


Heading a diplomatic delegation, Foreign Minister Zarif left Tehran for Baku on Wednesday for 4-party talks with his counterparts from Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia.

The top Iranian diplomat will then leave Baku for the Kazakh capital Astana to attend a trilateral meeting with Turkish and Russian foreign ministers, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Sergei Lavrov, as part of the Astana talks on Syria.

The Astana peace process is aimed at ending a crisis that erupted in Syria in 2011.

Last week, diplomats from Iran, Russia, Turkey and the UN attended a series of intensive meetings in Geneva to discuss the ways to restore peace and stability to Syria.

In September 2017, Iran, Russia and Turkey -the three guarantor states in peace talks- agreed on the details of four �de-escalation zones� in Syria, including in Idlib, during peace talks in Astana.

The de-escalation zones are aimed at separating extremist groups, including Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham -- formerly known as al-Nusra Front -- from other militants.