Iran's president will meet with his Turkish and Russian counterparts in Istanbul in May, a spokesman for the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry said on Monday, 26 February, according to IRNA.

Referring to disagreements between Iran and Turkey on Syrian city of Afrin, Bahram Qasemi said in a press conference that Iran has always been in contact with Turkey, and in the past few days.

During recent phone calls between Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian and Turkish counterparts, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan invited the other two to meet in Istanbul in May.

'The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey will also meet in line with Astana talk prior to the heads of states meeting,' he said.

On 24 August 2016, the Turkish armed forces began a declared direct military intervention into Syria. Iran has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the involvement.

The talks between the officials of the three countries will help resolve differences and will contribute to the efforts being made to restore peace to Syria and fighting terrorism in the country, Qasemi said.