Discussions in Vienna this week will be first time Tehran has attended an international summit on the conflict
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and three of his deputies will attend international talks over Syria’s future in Vienna later this week.
It will be the first time that Tehran, the main regional backer of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, has attended an international summit on the four-year-long war. Tehran admits that its Revolutionary Guard officers are on the ground in Syria in an advisory role, but denies the presence of any combat troops in the country.
About a dozen participants are expected in total. It was not clear if any invitations had been issued to either the Syrian government or the opposition, though neither side was present at the last talks in Vienna.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, a deputy Iranian foreign minister, told Iranian state TV: “We believe the solution for Syria is a political solution. Americans and foreign players in Syria have no choice but to accept the realities in Syria. Assad ... has the necessary readiness for talks with insurgents who are committed to a political path.”
The talks are an expansion of discussions held last week in Vienna between the US, Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia that did not reach any substantive conclusion. The core talks are to take place in Vienna on Friday, but diplomats expect preparatory or bilateral meetings in the Austrian capital from late on Thursday.
Read more:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/28/iran-confirms-it-will-attend-international-talks-over-syrias-future
