Iran: ‘No agreement’ on key issues in Syria talks
Iran’s foreign minister has said there “seems to be no agreement” on two key issues, hours before the latest United Nations conference on Syria.
Mohammad Javad Zarif said his country had seen “no lists we can agree upon” of Syrian opposition groups that should be included in peace negotiations set to begin by January 1, or of Syrian groups that should be considered terrorist organisations instead.
“Card-carrying members of al Qaida do not satisfy the conditions that we set for members of the opposition,” Mr Zarif said, ruling out any affiliates of the extremist group. “The opposition should be serious and it should be inclusive.”
Mr Zarif also said “we still don’t know” if there will be any concrete progress in the talks that are aimed at bringing an end to Syria’s conflict. Iran, a top Syria ally, will attend.
Russia and the United States are leading the talks, but Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, has said that he sees attempts to “undercut” the communiques that have been agreed upon in the Syria discussions so far. He did not elaborate.
A peace plan agreed to last month by 20 nations meeting in Vienna sets a January 1 deadline for the start of negotiations between President Bashar Assad’s government and opposition groups. The plan says nothing about Assad’s future but says “free and fair elections would be held pursuant to the new constitution within 18 months”.
Diplomats said the five permanent UN Security Council members, which include Russia and the United States, had not yet come to agreement on a draft resolution that the council is expected to adopt just after Friday’s talks endorsing the process.
“I’m not sure it’s going to happen,” Mr Churkin said of the resolution, which has been described as a rare gesture of unity in a security council that has been bitterly divided on Syria.
By contrast, British UN ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the draft was “in good shape”.
Syria ally Russia and the West continue to be split on the central issue in any discussions on a political transition – the fate of Assad.
Washington is desperate to secure a guarantee that he will eventually leave office in a transition, having abandoned President Barack Obama’s previous demand that he step down immediately. Russia has spent the last five years blocking any international strategy or UN resolution that would show Assad the door.
Mr Rycroft said those issues and the mechanics of a ceasefire would be on the table at the talks.
A security council resolution on the Syrian peace process, he said, would be a “very rare showing of unity” for world powers bitterly divided even as death tolls have soared past 300,000 and migrant crises and violent attacks have engulfed Europe and beyond.
