US, Iran to meet before multilateral Syria talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet his Iranian counterpart in Vienna on Thursday afternoon, ahead of multilateral talks over the Syrian conflict later in the day, a senior State Department official said.

 Tehran will take part for the first time in international negotiations aimed at resolving the war, as key nations backing Syria's warring sides seek to thrash out differences over the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

 Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad was also due to hold talks on Thursday afternoon with Russia's Sergei Lavrov, according to the Russian news wire Interfax.

 The meetings mark the start of a two-day diplomatic flurry which will gather all the major players in the Syrian war in the same room for the first time.

 On Thursday evening, Russia -- a supporter of Assad -- will hold talks with the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which all back rebel groups.

 This will be followed by a wider meeting of regional players on Friday, when Javad will join representatives from Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Lebanon and the European Union.

 It is the second round of talks in less than a week between envoys from Moscow, Washington, Ryad and Istanbul.

 So far there has been no mention of either the Syrian government or the opposition joining.

 Around a quarter of a million people have died in the Syrian conflict over the past four and a half years.