Dubai: Iran's foreign minister has called Russia's decision to withdraw its forces from Syria "a positive sign" that indicates a ceasefire between the Syrian government and rebels could be sustained.
President Vladimir Putin made a surprise announcement on Monday that most Russian forces would be withdrawn from Syria after deploying in September to bolster President Bashar al-Assad. A steady stream of warplanes has flown home since then.
"The fact that Russia announced they are withdrawing part of its forces indicates that they don't see an imminent need for resort to force in maintaining the ceasefire," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by Iran's Press TV during a visit to Australia on Tuesday. "That in and of itself could be a positive sign. We have to wait and see," he added.
The Syrian government and the Western-backed opposition are holding UN-mediated peace talks in Geneva as part of a diplomatic push launched with US-Russian support to end the conflict. Iran supports Assad in the five-year-old conflict.
Russia launched air strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria on September 30, 2015 after Putin secured his parliament's unanimous backing to intervene to prop up the Kremlin's closest Middle East ally.
