DAMASCUS/DUBAI/MANAMA: Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem Sunday welcomed the statement that emerged from the Vienna meeting in remarks to U.N. peace envoy Staffan de Mistura, according to Syrian state television.

The station said Moallem had “expressed to ... De Mistura the importance of numerous points” in the statement released at the end of the Vienna talks.

De Mistura met with Moallem in Damascus Sunday, two days after attending international talks on Syria’s conflict, a U.N. official said.

The Syrian newspaper Al-Watan, which is close to the government, said the U.N. envoy was in Damascus to brief officials on the “details” of the Vienna talks. De Mistura was expected to leave Damascus Monday, the U.N. official said, declining to provide further details on the diplomat’s visit.

Participants at the talks agreed to ask the U.N. to broker a peace deal between the regime and opposition to clear the way for a new constitution and U.N.-supervised elections.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said elections should be held in Syria to end the civil war there and criticized foreign powers that arm and fund Syrian opposition fighters, state television reported.

In an annual address to Iran’s top diplomats, Khamenei also said that U.S. objectives in the Middle East were the opposite of Iran’s and that negotiating with Washington on regional issues was meaningless.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attended the meeting after returning from inconclusive talks with world powers in Vienna Friday aimed at finding a solution to the war, the first time Iran had participated in such talks. “The solution to the Syrian question is elections, and for this it is necessary to stop military and financial aid to the opposition,” several state media outlets quoted Khamenei as saying.

The Vienna talks were attended by 17 countries including the U.S., which has called for Assad to leave power as part of a political transition process. He has refused to do so.

But Khamenei, who tolerated talks with the U.S. to reach a deal on Iran’s disputed nuclear program in July, has ruled out negotiating with Washington on any other issue. “The Americans are trying to impose their own interests, not resolve issues, 60 or 70 percent through negotiations and the rest through illegal actions. So what is the meaning of negotiating with them?” the conservative hard-line leader said.

The United States ramped up its support for Syria’s opposition with a pledge of nearly $100 million in fresh aid Saturday. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the additional assistance at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Gulf island nation of Bahrain, where discussion of Syria dominated the gathering of mostly Western and Arab officials.

The American promise of cash, which it says brings to nearly $500 million the amount it has pledged to the opposition since 2012, came a day after the U.S. announced it was intensifying its fight against ISIS in Syria with the deployment of up to 50 special operations troops.

The new U.S. funds will support local and provincial councils, civil society activists, emergency services and other needs on the ground inside Syria.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told delegates that the timing of Assad’s departure and the withdrawal of foreign fighters remain the main sticking points to finding a lasting resolution to the civil war in Syria.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the fact that the talks in Vienna included regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran was an achievement in itself. But Jubeir, who arrived from Vienna overnight, seemed to downplay the significance of what had been accomplished, declaring in Bahrain, “We have not been able to reach agreement.”

He said the oil-rich kingdom’s policy toward Syria has not changed, and that it would continue to support what he called the moderate Syrian opposition.

He described the presence of foreign forces, particularly Iranian troops, as a roadblock to ending the fighting in the Syria’s war.

Iran has deployed what it says are military advisers to support the government and has had casualties in the conflict, though it denies the presence of Iranian combat troops in Syria.

Jubeir also made clear that the negotiations had done nothing to change Saudi Arabia’s position that Assad must go. “Ideally he should leave this afternoon. The sooner the better,” Jubeir said.