Syrian Conflict: Geneva 2 without Iran is not Balanced

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said in a new official statement that Iran is able to contribute to a settlement of the Syrian conflict because the Islamic Republic of Iran is an important regional player in the Middle East, and thus, also important for the negotiations about a political solution for the conflict in Syria.Of course, Moscow wants that Iran will participate in the upcoming next “peace conference” on Syria in Geneva (Geneva 2), while Washington still opposes such an idea. However, in case the U.S. administration really wants to find a solution for the conflict and violence in Syria at the upcoming Geneva 2 conference, then all important regional players of the Middle East should be allowed to participate in the next international conference on Syria in Geneva.In addition, it is probably to hope that the so-called Geneva 2-conference will be able to “move something” after knowing that the first conference on Syria in Geneva has been a farce and nothing more.The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said in a new interview with the Interfax news agency yesterday, that Moscow hopes that negotiations about the participation of Iran in the international conference in Geneva with Washington will soon take place and that the U.S. administration acknowledges the importance of the participation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Geneva 2 conference on the conflict in Syria.Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, further said in this exclusive interview with the Interfax news agency that Russia is convinced that the planned Geneva 2-conference could only be held after September this year and not before. According to the new statements by Gennady Gatilov, the planned Geneva 2-conference can hardly take place in September this year, because there are already several other important events in this month – for example, the UN General Assembly’s ministerial week.Russia: Iran can contribute in resolving the Syrian conflict.However, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gatilov has again confirmed that Moscow wants to convene the next conference on the Syrian conflict as soon as possible and it seems that October is then probably a good month for such a Geneva II-meeting.The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister finally said in this exclusive interview with the Interfax news agency that every side has to take into account the “real circumstances which could affect that forum” and he further added that the officials from Moscow and Washington will meet again in the end of this month (August) in order to continue their negotiations about the preparations for the next conference on Syria in Geneva (Geneva 2), beside the debates about the participation of Iran in the next “peace conference” in terms of Syria.As an important regional player in the Middle East, there is no doubt that officials from the Islamic Republic of Iran have to participate in such a conference on the Syrian conflict and how to politically solve the conflict in the Arab nation.The Russian Foreign Ministry has already renewed the calls for an invitation for Iran to the Geneva 2 talks several times in recent months. For example, on June 5, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow demanded the participation of Iran in the upcoming Geneva II-conference on Syria. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said at the beginning of June, that the participation of Iran is “a matter of principle” because such a planned conference on the Syrian conflict in Geneva “should be balanced”.Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov acknowledged the opposition of the U.S. leadership to invite officials from Iran to the so-called next peace conference on Syria (Geneva II) but he has also insisted that Iran’s absence in the first conference on Syria in Geneva in last summer “was a mistake and it should not be repeated.”Also the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has several times stated that the attendance of Iran in the next conference on Syria in Geneva is important as Iran is “one of the most important nations” in the Middle East, and thus, the Islamic Republic of Iran has influence on and in Syria./129