US Secretary of State John Kerry, who arrived in Vienna early on Thursday, cautioned that this week’s talks would not secure an immediate political solution, but represented the best hope available.
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Russian Federation and Iran have made it equally clear that Assad has a right to play a role in an eventual transition towards a mooted transitional unity government and later elections.
“International efforts for ending the Syrian crisis, which is rooted in foreign intervention and supporting extremist groups, have been underway for quite a few time”, Zarif said upon arrival at Vienna airport on Thursday.
Syria has been in turmoil since 2011, with government troops engaged in fighting on multiple fronts against the so-called moderate opposition factions and jihadist groups, including the Islamic State and Al Nusra Front.
Iran provides vital military and financial support to al-Assad and was blocked by Washington from an unsuccessful UN-brokered peace conference a year ago for not accepting an internationally backed road map based on replacing al-Assad’s government.
“More than 250,000 people have been killed and more than 11 million people “ half the country’s population “ have been uprooted from their homes.
Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, was outlining the common position of European countries including Britain, the United States, and their Gulf allies, led by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in advance of a new attempt at peace talks scheduled for Vienna tomorrow.
“While finding a way forward on Syria will not be easy – it’s not going to be automatic – it is the most promising opportunity for a political opening we have seen”, Kerry said just before he set off for Austria.
Iranian deputy foreign minister Amir Abdollahian, who will be attending the talks, was quoted by the country’s media as saying the country “does not insist on keeping Assad in power forever”.
“If they’re serious we will know, and if they’re not serious we will also know and stop wasting time with them”, Jubeir said. None of the reporting on the negotiations indicated that the Syrian government, opposition forces, or Kurdish groups have been invited to participate.
After Thursday night’s meeting, Mr Kerry met Mr Zarif and their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
According to The Wall Street Journal’s Thursday, the USA officials are planning to discuss Assad’s future during worldwide Vienna talks on Syrian regulation.
DAMASCUS, October 28 (Xinhua) – In parallel with its military involvement against the terror groups in Syria, Moscow is also trying to help make a breakthrough in the stalemated political process in Syria so as to bring an end to the long-running conflict in the war-torn country, analysts say.
“Bashar al-Assad and his regime is the root of the terrorism in Syria”, he said.
For its part, the USA reiterated earlier this week that it is “prepared to work with any nation, including Russian Federation and Iran, to resolve the conflict in Syria”.
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Iran is Assad’s biggest supporter. “The Assad regime has for years been resisting a political transition and the question is now, are the Iranians willing to use their influence over the Assad regime to compel them to engage in this discussion – constructively in this discussion – to enact a political transition in Syria”.
