It will be the second time in less than a week that the four envoys have met on Syria.
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What started in Syria has spread to multiple countries-to Iraq, where ISIS has effectively erased part of the border with Syria and taken over a chunk of the northwest; to Turkey and Lebanon, which together have taken in more than 3 million of the 4 million registered Syrian refugees; to Europe, which has received more than 500,000 asylum applications from Syrians since 2011; and to the United States, which as of this writing has resettled fewer than 2,000 Syrian refugees since 2011 but has pledged to take in 10,000 more over the next year. “We’ll see what happens”, Kerry said as he kicked off his first session, with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz.
epa04559840 US Secretary of State John Kerry, (L), speaks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, (R), as they walk in the city of Geneva, Switzerland, 14 January 2015, during a bilateral meeting ahead of the next round of nuclear discussions, which begin on 15 January.
Anti-government protests developed into a civil war that, four years on, has ground to a stalemate, with the Assad government, Islamic State, an array of Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters all holding territory.
The United States has lent support to anti-al-Assad forces while Saudi Arabia and Turkey have been major backers of Syrian rebel groups.
Yet in the 40 months since the communique was signed by Russian Federation, the US and other nations – though not Iran – there has been no movement toward implementing it, mainly because talks have always hit a wall when it comes to what role, if any, Assad should have in the transition.
Assad says all the groups fighting him are terrorists.
It is also due to a new readiness by the United States and Saudi Arabia to hear what Iran has to say – especially about the main point of disagreement: what role Syria’s President Assad should be allowed to play in any transition. That unleashed bitter recriminations from Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi, who called al-Jubeir a “tumor”.
Even if the countries do reach an agreement on Assad it won’t solve everything. The Syrian uprising presented just such a shock, and the opposition to Assad may have seen a short-term opportunity to press for more gains by taking up arms before their Arab Spring advantage disappeared.
They need a new constitution. They must decide whether to hold people accountable for crimes committed by all sides. And they have to find a way to cooperate to help defeat the Islamic State.
None of those decisions seem reachable without first determining Assad’s future.
Mr Jubeir told the BBC that there was “no doubt” Mr Assad had to go. Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia has been more outspoken than the U.S.in labeling the talks as a test of Shiite Iran’s seriousness to seek peace.
On the eve of broader talks, the top USA diplomat left his Vienna hotel and walked 100 yards (metres) up the street to his counterpart’s accommodation for a closed-door meeting.
Iran’s attendance without a shift in position would mean little, and Zarif said his presence should not indicate he was accepting any conditions.
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Assad himself appears to be digging in. Assad’s office issued a statement Tuesday reiterating that he would not consider any political initiatives “until after eradicating terrorism”.
