Diplomats from Iran, Russia, Turkey meet UN envoy on Syria

High-level diplomats from Iran, Russia and Turkey were meeting Tuesday with the UN envoy for Syria about creating a committee to revise the war-battered country's constitution.

The talks in Geneva under UN envoy Staffan de Mistura come amid concerns that he and other UN officials have expressed about a looming battle for northern Idlib province the last remaining rebel stronghold in Syria after 7 years of war that is now home to some 3 million civilians.

Hossein Jaberi Ansari, a special envoy for Iran's foreign minister, said a "good result" could emerge from the talks.

Asked whether Iran shared concerns about a possible humanitarian catastrophe in Idlib, Jaberi Ansari replied: "We are worried too. We we are trying to avoid this." Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, declined to answer a question on his way into the talks about whether Russia would stop its airstrikes.

De Mistura met informally with members of the three delegations on Monday.

The talks are set to focus on creating a constitutional committee under Syria's Russian- and Iranian-backed government. Russia, Turkey and Iran have been working together as "guarantors" for a series of talks around ending Syria's war. Turkey has taken in 3.5 million refugees from its neighbour.

On Monday, airstrikes on Idlib and Hama provinces forced some people to flee their homes, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.