Posted May 05, 2017 09:36:28

Photo: Vladimir Putin (R) and Turkish President Erdogan (L) met in Russia this week signalling thawed relations. (AP: Alexander Zemlianichenko, file)

Russia, Iran and Turkey have agreed to establish "de-escalation zones" in Syria, signing on to a controversial Russian plan under which President Bashar al-Assad's air force would halt flights over designated areas across the war-torn country.

The agreement — which a Russian delegate said would go into effect on Saturday — is the latest attempt to reduce violence in the Arab country, but the full details of the proposal were not made available and prospects for its success appeared bleak.

According to a statement, the zones include the provinces of Idlib, areas north of Homs, the eastern Ghouta suburbs outside Damascus, and an area in the south of the country.

But as officials from the three countries — Russia, Iran and Turkey — that back rival sides in the conflict signed the agreement at talks in Kazakhstan on Thursday, some members of the Syrian opposition delegation shouted in protest and walked out of the conference room in Astana, the Kazakh capital.

The opposition is protesting Iran's participation at the conference and role as a guarantor of the agreement, accusing it of fuelling the sectarian nature of the conflict that has killed some 400,000 people and displaced half the country's population.

"Iran is a country that is killing the Syrian people and the killer cannot be the rescuer," said Abu Osama Golani, a rebel commander who attended the gathering in Astana.

The walkout and the comments underline the huge difficulties of implementing such a deal.

The Syrian Government has said that although it will abide by the agreement, it would continue fighting "terrorism" wherever it exists, parlance for most armed rebel groups fighting government troops.

A previous ceasefire agreement signed on December 30 helped reduce overall violence for several weeks but eventually collapsed.

Other attempts at a ceasefire in Syria have all ended in failure.

'Iran's support of Assad has perpetuated misery': US

Sponsors of the deal hope safe zones will bring relief for hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians and encourage refugees to return, but officials have expressed scepticism, stressing that safe zones have not had an encouraging track record.

A look at the key moments that have shaped the war in Syria over the last six years.

However, UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura described Thursday's agreement as a "step in the right direction," expressing hope that the deal would boost UN-backed Syria peace talks in Geneva.

Mr De Mistura said details of the agreement would become clearer in the next two weeks, adding that the United Nations was "very supportive" of the deal.

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the United States had "reason to be cautious" about the chances for success of the deal, though it appreciates the efforts by Russia and Turkey to help lower violence in Syria.

However, she added, the US has concerns about Iran's "guarantor" role in the Kazakhstan deal.

"Iran's activities in Syria have only contributed to the violence, not stopped it, and Iran's unquestioning support for the Assad regime has perpetuated the misery of ordinary Syrians," she said.

The US was represented at the talks in Kazakhstan though Ms Nauert said it was neither a "direct participant" nor a party to the agreement.

ABC/wires

Topics: world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, syrian-arab-republic