The Secretary-General met today with H.E. Mr. Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

He welcomed the generally favourable impressions and messages that had been conveyed in recent days.  He briefed the Minister on the speedy deployment of the joint United Nations-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons mission to Syria on chemical weapons.

He urged parties to come to Geneva for the international peace conference, accepting the communiqué of 30 June 2012 as the basis for the conference.  He underlined the importance of a single and united delegation on the opposition side.  The Secretary-General and the Minister also discussed the talks on the nuclear issue.