Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said today, Saturday, that there are initiatives regarding a ceasefire, and that he held consultations in this regard, expressing his hope that they will reach a result. Araqchi stressed, after meeting his Syrian counterpart Bassam Sabbagh, the need for collective efforts from the international community to stop Israel's crimes. The Iranian Minister arrived in Damascus this morning, and said upon his arrival at the airport: "The goal of this visit is to meet with Syrian officials and talk about the latest developments in the region." He added: "I had good meetings and very good talks with officials in the Lebanese government and other figures, and we talked about the latest events in the region. In continuation of those topics and talks, I came to Damascus to meet with Syrian officials, and in our meetings we always talk to each other and exchange views on developments in the region." He continued: "There is no doubt that talking about a ceasefire is the first issue in this visit, first in Lebanon and then in Gaza, and there are proposals in this area, and I hope that the talks will reach a result, but unfortunately the crimes of the Israeli entity continue and it seems that, as we said before, the Israeli entity only understands the language of force, weapons and war, so we see these crimes repeated every day in Beirut, southern Lebanon and Gaza," indicating that: "To curb these crimes, there is no doubt that we need the collective efforts of the international community, and these efforts are ongoing and we hope that we can reach an understanding in Damascus that supports these efforts." Araqchi continued: "We have distinguished political relations, and there is no doubt that we are continuing to communicate to advance relations in the economic and cultural aspects in a way that serves cultural interests, but in today's circumstances we are more in need of discussing political affairs." Source: National Iraqi News Agency