NOVANEWS |
Tehran brushes off US offer of possible sideline role in Geneva 2 conference, calling it a matter of “honour”. |
A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran was ready to participate in talks [Reuters]
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Iran is not among the first round of nations invited to attend Syria peace talks in Switzerland later this month, a UN spokesman has confirmed. However, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “is in favour of inviting Iran,” spokesman Farhan Haq said on Monday. Invitations to the talks are subject to approval by the initiating states, Russia and the US, which have not yet agreed on Iran’s role in the talks. Haq said the UN hopes that can be resolved at a January 13 meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Afkham’s comments came after Kerry suggested that Iran, Syria’s main regional ally, could play a constructive role in finding a resolution to Syria’s civil war, even without participating fully in the talks.
The US has objected to Iran’s participation because Tehran has not publicly endorsed the call for a transnational government in Syria, and is backing militias propping up the regime. |