Lebanon urges Iran's participation in Geneva II talks on Syria

Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour called on the organizers of the International Geneva II Peace Conference on Syria not to deprive the gathering of Tehran's constructive role. Speaking on Friday, Mansour stressed the need for Iran’s presence in the forthcoming Geneva II talks, scheduled to be held on January 22, noting that the involvement of Tehran in the event will boost its credit while Iran’s absence will lead to the failure of the talks. He said the absence of Iran in the upcoming Syria confab will hurt the fundamentals of the event, noting that for the Geneva II conference to be fruitful, all influential powers must be invited without any discrimination. On Friday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov underlined that Iran's influential and positive role in the region has persuaded US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to hold a meeting in Paris on Iran's participation in the Geneva II conference on Syria. Speaking after his meeting with US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, Gatilov said, "This meeting (between Kerry and Lavrov) will be held in Paris on January 13 and right before the Geneva II conference on Syria." On Monday, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad arrived in Tehran to confer with senior Iranian officials on the latest developments in his country, including the upcoming Geneva conference to be held on January 22. Al-Miqdad, whose country has always underlined the necessity for Iran's participation in the Geneva II talks, traveled to Tehran to be informed about the latest stances of the Islamic Republic over the gathering, particularly after Kerry's Sunday comments on sidelining Iran's participation in the Geneva II conference. In response to Kerry's statements, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham reiterated Iran's full support for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria, and urged the US secretary of state to see the region's realities, including Iran's undeniably influential and positive role in the settlement of regional disputes. "Iran has repeatedly announced since the very beginning of the ongoing crisis in Syria that the problem should be solved through diplomatic solutions. Any solution to the crisis should guarantee the Syrian people's right to determine their own destiny based on Syrian-Syrian talks," said the spokeswoman. Criticizing Kerry's proposal for Iran's sidelined participation in the Geneva II conference, Afkham said Tehran would only accept the proposals which are in line with its dignity. On Sunday, Kerry suggested that Iran could play a sideline role in the Syrian peace talks. He said that it would be difficult to see how Iran could be a ministerial partner in the Geneva II talks. However, he said that Tehran could play a helpful role in finding a solution to the conflict in Syria. Kerry suggested that Iran’s diplomatic office in Geneva might be able to help as an unofficial participant. Iran has always underlined a negotiated end to the crisis in Syria, reiterating that a halt in the arms flow to anti-government militants is the prerequisite to any diplomatic solution to the Syrian problem. In November 2012, Iran hosted a meeting between the representatives of the Syrian government and opposition to encourage them to start talks to find a political solution to their problems. The National Dialogue Conference kicked off work in Tehran mid November with the motto of 'No to Violence, Yes to Democracy". The meeting brought together almost 200 representatives of various Syrian ethnicities, political groups, minorities, the opposition, and state officials. The conflict in Syria started in March 2011, when sporadic pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of western and regional states. The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle-East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history. As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end in sight, the US government has boosted its political and military support to Takfiri extremists. Washington has remained indifferent to warnings by Russia and other world powers about the consequences of arming militant groups.