Iran will be invited to participate in talks in Vienna on Friday to discuss ending the conflict in Syria, a dialogue aimed at finding a framework for political transition in Damascus, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.
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Secretary of State John Kerry is attending on behalf of the USA, and he will meet with a range of officials from Russian Federation, European and Arab nations.
“Whether they come or not is up to Iranian leaders”, he said.
Iran has been the staunchest defender of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Love him or hate him, President Vladimir Putin continues to surprise the West. The president’s latest surprise occurred last week, when Syrian President Bashar Assad suddenly turned up in Moscow. Previously only members of the Qods force (the expeditionary wing of the IRGC) were deployed to Syria in an advisory capacity. Replacing Assad with a secular Sunni strongman capable of taking the fight to the Islamic State; establishing an agreed upon transitional period leading to Assad’s eventual departure; or reducing Assad’s responsibilities so he takes on a face-saving ceremonial role.
It’s a recognition that things have got so bad that all major regional powers have to be involved.
“I can not share any concrete details with you so far apart from the fact that we are actively working with other capitals on Syria to build on the Vienna meeting”. Faced with domestic and worldwide criticism of its involvement, Tehran preferred to employ Afghan citizens resident in Iran. We may well find that after three or four or even 10 years that the crisis remains ongoing, still inflamed, and Assad remains at the head of the ruling regime, even if he only controls a small part of the country’s overall territory.
After almost a month of conducting daily air strikes, Russian Federation is beginning to reveal its political calculations and strategic intent in Syria. It’s just that everything has to be tried, as Syria’s agony grows by the day, and with it worldwide tensions and the plight of ever increasing numbers of people fleeing the country.
Last week, a commander in Iran’s Basij militia was killed in Syria’s Quneitra province, which borders Israel. One senior Arab diplomat told us that these discussions were mainly to gauge Russia’s long-term intentions in Syria and to try to persuade Moscow to bomb the IS targets rather than more moderate rebels.
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Why is there a war in Syria? The Russian air force has focused its bombing on the US-backed opposition instead of the Islamic State (IS), the terrorists whom Mr Kerry believes present a common enemy for Russia and the US.
