Certain Parties Blocking Iran’s Presence in Syria Conference: FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Tehran is ready to attend the upcoming Geneva 2 peace conference on Syria without any precondition, Iranian foreign minister reiterated, adding that certain sides are making deliberate attempts to block Iran’s participation in the gathering.
“There are pressures from some parties aimed at our absence in the Geneva 2 conference on Syria,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari in Baghdad on Tuesday, Iraqi Al-Sumaria news reported.
The Iranian top diplomat once again rejected any precondition for Tehran’s role in the upcoming gathering, due to be held in Switzerland on January 22, and stated, “We will attend the Geneva 2 conference if we are invited without any precondition.”
Zarif also expressed the hope that the long-awaited conference would produce positive results to settle the prolonged crisis in Syria.
The much delayed Geneva 2 conference on Syria is set to be held in the Swiss city of Montreux on January 22.
The conference would bring representatives from Syria's government and elements of the opposition to negotiate an end to the fighting that has raged on since March 2011.
Geneva 2 is the second sequel of Geneva 1 conference held in June 2012 in which international parties laid out a peace plan for Syria that calls for a transitional governing body. It left open the question of whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must leave power.
The final communiqué issued on 30 June 2012, following the meeting of the so-called Action Group for Syria called for an immediate cessation of violence and the establishment of a transitional government that could include officials serving under President Bashar al-Assad and members of the opposition.
