EU's Mogherini to visit Tehran, Riyadh for Syria talks
The European Union's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini will head to Iran and Saudi Arabia for talks on the Syrian conflict, a statement said on Friday. Mogherini will visit Tehran on Saturday and Riyadh on Monday for "senior level talks" continuing the EU's "outreach to key actors in the region on the Syrian crisis", it said. The diplomatic push comes with no end in sight to a conflict that has aligned regional powers on opposite sides, with Iran backing President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi Arabia a key supporter of the rebels fighting to oust him. Syrian rebels launched a major assault Friday aimed at breaking a months-long siege of opposition-held districts of Aleppo, as regime ally Russia held off on renewed air strikes. More than 300,000 people have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests calling for Assad's ouster.
