Ignoring Iran in Syria Peace Talks Was Wrong, UN Envoy Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – United Nations (UN) Special Representative for Syria Staffan de Mistura highlighted the role Tehran can play in resolving the crisis in the Arab country, and officially invited Iran’s foreign minister to attend a meeting in May to settle the issue.
“Ignoring the role of Islamic Republic as an important regional country in settling the issue of Syria was totally wrong, and constructive efforts are needed to compensate for the mistake,” de Mistura said in a Monday meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
The two diplomats met on the sidelines of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference held in New York, United States.
The UN representative also invited Zarif to take part in the upcoming peace talks in Geneva aimed at resolving the crisis in Syria. De Mistura reportedly believes it is possible that Iran accepts the official invitation.
The talks are aimed at forging a political solution to the conflict in the Arab country. Tehran was absent in previous Syria negotiations in Switzerland.
De Mistura’s invitation comes as a US state department spokesman on Monday once again laid down conditions for Iran’s presence in the talks to resolve the Syrian crisis.
“If Iran wants to play a constructive role in peacefully ending the Syrian conflict, we think the way forward is clear: end its support for the Assad regime and endorse the principles of the Geneva communique,” Jeffrey Rathke told reporters in reaction to the invitation.
Elsewhere in his remarks, de Mistura chided certain regional and ultra-regional countries for their lack of cooperation on the framework of his mission in Syria.
Zarif, for his part, expressed Iran’s worry about the negative role of certain countries in exacerbating the Syrian crisis, saying that Iran is ready to support de Mistura’s initiatives to restore stability to Syria using peaceful solutions.
Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011. Reports said the violence fueled by Takfiri groups has so far claimed the lives of over 222,000 people.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says over 7.2 million people have been internally displaced, and more than 3 million fled the country.
Previous UN-mediated talks on Syria have failed to reach a solution to end the conflict in the Arab country.
