FNA - Iranian Supreme Leader's top aide for international affairs Akbar Velayati underlined that his country along with Russia and Turkey (as guarantors of peace in Syria) are in favor of returning the terrorist-occupied Idlib province to the Syrian government without shedding any blood.

"Discussions have been made that Idlib should return to the central government with the minimum tolls and bloodshed and certainly, Iran, Russia and Turkey agree with it because if a person surrenders and declares loyalty, he/she should not be killed and should be protected," Velayati said, addressing the Iranian experts and university professors as well as former ambassadors to foreign states in Tehran on Sunday.

He also underscored that Syria and its allies were the ultimate winners in defending the country against the terrorists, adding that the US, Saudi Arabia, the Zionists and the extremists who were nourished by them have lost the battle and may not escape defeat.

In relevant remarks earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that the Syrian army and its allies would make their utmost efforts to reduce harms to civilians during the imminent military operations against the terrorist groups in Idlib.

"Given the fact that we will have the summit of leaders of Astana talks (in Tehran) on Friday and the conditions in Idlib are sensitive, we are trying to have the situation in Idlib and expulsion of terrorists from Idlib done with the least humanitarian costs. We had talks in Turkey to this end and we also held talks in Syria with the high-ranking Syrian officials," Zarif told reporters in Tehran before the trilateral meeting between the Iranian, Russian and Turkish presidents in Tehran.

"God willing, we will have talks with the three members of the Astana process until Friday to prevent any harm to the Syrian people and pave the ground for the process to purge extremists and get the results," he added.