The worldwide talks on the Syrian turmoil are expected to take place in Vienna on October 30.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif will join key players in the Syria crisis – including Russian Federation, the United States and Saudi Arabia – in Vienna today for a renewed effort to end more than four years of bloodshed.
The U.S. has done special operations raids in Syria, and participated in a ground operation to rescue hostages last week in northern Iraq that resulted in the first USA combat death there since 2011. One U.S. official said the number was likely to be in the range of 20 to 30 but could not provide details.
During a war that has killed more than 250,000 people and driven 10 million from their homes, Assad’s main ally, Tehran, has been locked out of a succession of worldwide peace conferences, all of which ended in failure.
Although expectations on finding a workable political solution are low, the meeting is a significant step forward as it brings together the main supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime headed by Bashar al-Assad.
To further counter the militant group, Obama has also authorised deploying A-10s and F-15 aircraft to Incirlik air base in Turkey, a senior administration official said.
Kerry said on Wednesday that Washington was stepping up its diplomacy to end the Syrian conflict, even as it increases support for moderate rebels fighting Islamic State militants.
In Syria, Saudi Arabia supports the rebels fighting Assad, who has financial and military support from Tehran, while in Yemen, Riyadh has led a military campaign against Iran-backed Shia Huthi rebels.
“There will be no political settlement of the war in Syria without Iran”, said Daniel Serwer, a professor of conflict management at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
“This is tinkering around the edges and it does up America’s role and it will allow America to go to the Iraqis and go to the Russians and everybody and say we are doing more, but it doesn’t fundamentally change anything”, Landis said.
The group’s common ground would be the removal of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, she explained.
In a rare hint of diplomatic progress, Iran signalled it would back a six-month political transition period in Syria followed by elections to decide Assad’s fate, although his foes rejected the proposal as a trick to keep Assad in power.
Iranian media quoted Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian, who will be attending Friday’s talks as saying, “Iran does not insist on keeping Assad in power forever”.
VIENNA (AP) The latest developments in talks on ending the Syrian War (all times local). “Bashar Al Assad and his regime is the root of the terrorism in Syria”.
They say any fair vote is impossible in wartime conditions in which almost half of the country is displaced.
The same sources told the al Rai newspaper of Kuwait, that the “Hezbollah fighters were surprised by the low altitude of the Russian planes when they flew over their position, following which they bombed their location”. “Besides, we do not yet see a representative delegation of the opposition”. Under pressure from the West, Saudi Arabia reluctantly agreed to attend the conference with Iran.
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When asked if Washington had any evidence of the Russian airstrike hitting Syrian hospitals, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that they have information that leads them to believe that Russian military aircraft hit a hospital.
