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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dismisses deputy prime minister Qadri Jamil. Reports say Jamil has been removed due to lack of coordination with other officials and his performance. The Syrian deputy premier was recently in Geneva and some sources say he had met U-S officials there. Syrian T-V has released a statement, saying the official was dismissed because he did not follow up on his duties and undertook activities without coordinating with the government.

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Iran\'s Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi says he\'s set to meet with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna later this month. Araqchi, who\'s a member of Iran\'s nuclear negotiating team, said his meeting with Yukiya Amano will take place before the upcoming Iran-I-A-E-A talks set for October 28 and 29. He also said that four experts from the trade, banking, oil and transport sectors will join Iran\'s negotiating team. Tehran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany held two days of negotiations behind closed doors in Geneva in mid-October. The two sides agreed to meet there again on November 7 and 8.

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Iran, the US, and the European Union have ended their negotiations to hammer out a draft deal on Iran\'s nuclear energy program on Friday. The talks now stretch into the third day on Saturday. Iran\'s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has described the trilateral discussions as productive. Araqchi, however, added that lots of work still remains to do. American sources also said progress has been made, but there\'s more work to do. The comments come after five hours of intense negotiations between Iran\'s Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif, his U-S counterpart John Kerry, and EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton. The three were working on a draft agreement which many say could be a breakthrough in Iran\'s nuclear energy case. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and a Chinese deputy foreign minister are also on their way to Geneva to join the negotiations.

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Iran\'s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, is in Moscow. In a press conference he told reporters that he\'s had several meetings with Russian authorities to discuss the Syrian conflict. According to the Iranian official, the Geneva 2 conference is very close to taking place.

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Syria\'s deputy foreign minister has blasted foreign supporters of insurgency in his country. Faisal Mekdad says the US and France are providing lethal weapons to militants. Mekdad says Saudi Arabia and Israel are playing a lethal role in the conflict. He says Riyadh and Tel Aviv are closely coordinating their actions and funneling cash and weapons to insurgents. He also pointed out that the determination of the Syrian people and army are defusing plots hatched by supporters of the militants.

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Iran\\\'s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi says Tehran will respond to unthoughtful and inaccurate remarks by American officials. Araqchi said that Iran will continue nuclear talks with the P-five-plus-one group of countries with goodwill despite the fact that American officials have adopted a contradictory stance since the Geneva deal. Araqchi named blacklisting some Iranian entities and pressures from the US Treasury Department on other countries as examples of that policy. According to Araqchi, comments and actions by US official have been provocative and against the spirit of cooperation, required for the implementation of the November 24 deal. The diplomat noted that Tehran has advised American officials against trying to resolve their internal problems or tensions with their allies at the expense of the Iranian nation\\\'s rights.

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Syria\'s deputy foreign minister says the priority to reach a solution to the crisis there, is to stand against terrorism. Meqdad made the comments at a news conference in Geneva, ahead of the second round of negotiations with foreign-backed opposition there. He also warned that terrorist attacks could spread to the whole region if not countered. Meqdad also said that Western states must stop funding Takfiri terrorists in his country. Regarding the issue of transition, he said Damascus will discuss this whenever appropriate. The Syrian official stressed that his government is serious in pursuing peace and ending the conflict.

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Syria\'s Deputy Foreign Minister says no agenda has been agreed on for the so-called peace talks in Geneva, blaming the opposition party of refusing to discuss the issue of terrorism. Meqdad added that the opposition is only trying to waste time. He made the remarks after holding the second round of negotiations with the foreign-backed opposition in Geneva. The first round of talks last month produced no tangible results, with each side blaming the other for the ongoing violence. But according to U-N envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, some common ground was reached.

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A senior Iranian diplomat says the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is ready to hold elections next summer as planned. Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian says Damascus is keen on holding the elections through internal and local verification mechanisms. He says the vote will go ahead if all conflicting sides show their will to ensure security. Abdollahian stressed that the polls won\'t be held in calm, unless the borders are controlled and the flow of arms into the country is stopped. The deputy Iranian foreign minister in Arab and African Affairs also urged the foreign countries involved in the Syria war to allow Syrians to decide their destiny through the ballot box.

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The first day of the twelfth round of the talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency came to an end in the Austrian capital Vienna with the two sides agreeing to continue their negotiations on Tuesday. Monday\'s talks were held at two different levels. At the beginning of the negotiations, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met with the IAEA Director General Yukio Amano. Araqchi described the meeting as constructive.

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Iran says the terrorists who assassinated an Iranian diplomat in Yemen have been identified. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stated that a committee has been set up to closely pursue the issue of the murder of Abol Ghasem Asadi. He also expressed hope that the Yemeni government would announce the names and nationalities of the killers in the near future. Asadi was killed in the Yemeni capital San\'a last Saturday by an unknown group. Amir Abdollahian also mentioned the case of an Iranian diplomat who was abducted in Yemen several months ago, adding that serious efforts are being made to obtain the release of Nour Ahmad Nikbakht.