Iraq, Iran, and Syria convene emergency meeting over Homs rebel offensive

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Baghdad on Friday morning for a trilateral meeting with his Iraqi and Syrian counterparts to discuss the ongoing developments in Syria, where rebels have seized large areas in just over a week, News.az reports citing foreign media.

Araghchi is due to meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Al-Sabbagh and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein for a closed meeting this afternoon after which a joint stance from Baghdad-Tehran regarding the crisis in Syria is expected to be announced,

Syrian rebel forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group launched their offensive a little over a week ago, inflicting a series of shock defeats on regime forces and its allies in several areas and taking control of the central and strategically important city Hama on Thursday.

"Iraq is following events in Syria with great concern due to the direct impact they will have on the security and stability of the region," stated the Iraqi FM Fuad Hussein as he received Araghchi.

The lightning advances of Syrian opposition factions, who took control of Hama on Thursday evening, had taken everyone by surprise including Assad's allies, Iraq, Iran, and Russia.

An Iraqi foreign ministry official, who wished to remain anonymous said: "Whatever the outcome of the meeting between the three ministers, there's a conviction that it's too late to address many of the developments on the ground and swing the balance in favour of the Syrian army (regime forces)."

On Thursday evening, Syrian regime forces called their withdrawal from their positions within the governorates taken over by the opposition advance "tactical" and claimed they were preparing a counterattack.

News.Az