Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman confirmed the government had received the invitation to participate in the meeting but officials were still deciding whether to attend, state news agency IRNA reported on Wednesday.
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The invitation to the talks, which are to take place Thursday and Friday, reflected a recognition by the United States that there’s little chance in resolving Syria’s four-year civil war without having Iran – the top ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad – at the table.
Its critics say the exiled group fails to represent the Syrian people and its decisions are dictated by its two main backers – Saudi Arabia and Qatar – which compete for influence. Iran has what it calls military advisers in Syria and has a huge amount of leverage in Syria.
Revolutionary Guards Deputy Commander Hossein Salami said in an interview on state TV on Monday that Iran had increased its military presence in Syria in recent months to help its army in response to a request from the Assad government.
Russian Federation says that its bombing campaign is targeting IS fighters and other “terrorist” groups but Washington and its allies insist that Moscow is hitting more moderate groups battling Assad.
Serious divisions remain over when or whether Assad should step down – and the four-way Russia-US-Saudi-Turkey meeting last Friday in the Austrian capital failed to make a major breakthrough. “I believe that Russian Federation is aware that if they are not working equally hard for the beginning of a political process they risk being trapped in a sort of Afghanistan scenario in Syria, and they risk being perceived by a large part of the Arab community, and Muslim citizens of Russian Federation, as taking part in the Sunni-Shia divide”, Mogherini told the Guardian.
Iran’s ties with Syria are deep – Assad’s late father, Hafez, when president sided with Iran against Saddam.
When UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited Iran in January to participate in a new round of Syria talks, uproar ensued.
Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief who will attend the talks, welcomed Iran, tweeting: “Important to have all relevant regional actors at the table on Friday in Vienna”.
“Iran has consistently argued that Syria’s future is a choice between Assad and the jihadists”.
He also cited a few statistics to highlight urgency to end the war on Syria: one in 20 Syrians killed or wounded; one in five now refugees; average life expectancy down 20 years.
“Reason is the key to a solution in the Syria crisis”, the agency wrote.
This stance by the United States is a sea change from its previous opposition to Iran being a peace talk participant. If the track eventually leads to progress, the parties would then have to persuade – or, more likely, strong-arm – their allies in Syria to go along.
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The Arabs, on the other hand, have backed the largely Sunni opposition against Assad in an attempt to hasten his demise – which they would consider a victory in their struggle for regional hegemony with Shia Iran.
