Talks between the government and opposition groups could start as early as January, according to the resolution.
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The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution aimed at ending the civil war in Syria.
The resolution calls on the United Nations secretary-general to convene representatives of the Syrian government and opposition “to engage in formal negotiations on a political transition process on an urgent basis, with a target of early January 2016 for the initiation of talks”.
“The truth is that nothing would do more to bolster the fight against the terrorists than a broadly supported diplomatic process that gives the Syrian people a real choice – not a choice between President Bashar Assad or Daesh, but between war and peace, between the violent extremes and a newly empowered political center”, Kerry said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry declared the Security Council resolution sent “a clear message to all concerned that the time is now to stop the killing in Syria” and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed it as a “very important step” in attempts to end the conflict.
In an article published by British daily The Guardian on Friday, Zarif said preconditions concerning the conflict in Syria “do not represent the wishes of the Syrian people; rather, they reflect the agendas of outside actors, none of whom have the right to impose their will on an independent nation”.
While insisting that Assad has lost the “moral credibility” to govern Syria, Kerry said that Washington and Moscow had “agreed to disagree” on his future.
The resolution also says cease-fire efforts should move forward in parallel with the talks, and it asks Ban to report within a month on ways to monitor the cease-fire.
It was one of the strongest appeals for peace by the council, divided for years on the issue of Syria’s war, since Russian Federation and China began vetoing a series of Western-drafted resolutions on the conflict in October 2011.
If the plan brings Bashar al-Assad’s regime to the table with the armed opposition, it will allow Russian and US-led forces to focus their firepower on the Islamic State group.
Kerry said a start to the talks in the middle or end of the month would be more reasonable.
Touching on the peace process in Syria, the top Iranian diplomat said there are two separate tracks to ensure that the procedure will go on.
It also stressed on the “critical need to build conditions for the safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their home areas”.
On Friday Riad Hijab, the opposition coordinator, said there would be no concessions to Damascus and negotiate before the Syrian president leaves office.
During a break in Friday’s talks, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said he had presented a document compiling the groups each country attending considered to be a “terrorist” organization.
Groups who have been labelled terrorist organizations, including Islamic State and al-Nusra Front, are excluded from the discussions.
And opposition groups are unhappy that there’s no mention of Mr Assad’s departure.
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“Terrorist groups have no place in this national dialogue”, Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying.
