Iran Says It May Quit Talks on Syria Over Saudis’ Role
By RICK GLADSTONE and DAVID E. SANGER
New York Times
NOV. 2, 2015
Iran suggested on Monday that it might withdraw from the new peace talks on Syria because of what Iranian officials described as the unconstructive role of Saudi Arabia, Iran’s rival for dominance in the Middle East.
It was unclear whether the suggestion, carried via state-run news media, was serious or more akin to diplomatic posturing, since Iran would have much to lose if it were to leave talks it has long sought to attend.
The Iranian warning came three days after representatives from Iran and Saudi Arabia sat in the same room for the first time at a formal diplomatic meeting in Vienna of nearly 20 countries, including Russia and the United States, aimed at finding a way to end the Syrian civil war, now in its fifth year.
Little was decided at that meeting except that Syria’s territorial integrity must remain intact and that participants would reconvene within a few weeks.
Iran and Russia support President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, while the United States and Saudi Arabia support an array of Mr. Assad’s opponents who want him to relinquish power as part of any settlement. The Saudis are especially insistent that Mr. Assad should have no role in Syria’s future.
The war has left a quarter-million people dead, displaced millions more, helped incubate Islamic extremism in the region and contributed to a major refugee crisis pressing on Europe.
“In the first round of talks, some countries, especially Saudi Arabia, played a negative and unconstructive role,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, was quoted as saying by the Iranian Students’ News Agency and other official outlets. “Iran will not participate if the talks are not fruitful.”
Mr. Abdollahian’s statement at least illustrated the deep divide with Saudi Arabia, which has accused the Iranians of fomenting instability not just in Syria but elsewhere in the region where the Saudis have a direct interest, most notably in Yemen and Bahrain.
The Iranians have leveled the same accusation at the Saudis, as seen Monday in a speech by President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, who urged Saudi Arabia to end what he called its intrusive policies.
“If Saudi Arabia’s outlook on general regional issues is brought closer to realities and it renounces its meddling, many problems including those concerning relations can be solved in the new conditions,” Mr. Rouhani was quoted by the Iranian state news outlet Press TV and other media as telling Iranian ambassadors at a meeting in Tehran.
The antipathy between Tehran and Riyadh is regarded by Secretary of State John Kerry and others as one of the biggest challenges to a diplomatic solution in Syria.
Mr. Kerry, who was in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Monday, said in an interview with that country’s Mir TV that resolving the Syria conflict was also tied to winning Russia’s agreement that Mr. Assad must step down.
“We’d like to be able to do more with Russia, but that depends on Russia really making the decision that they have to help settle the political part of the war,” Mr. Kerry said. “We have to deal with the future of President Assad, we have to deal with how we will find a political solution.”
Mr. Kerry said the meeting in Vienna last week, which also included all of Syria’s neighbors as well as European powers, was “very effective.” But he also said that Russia, which has intervened militarily in recent weeks to bolster Mr. Assad, had still not made clear “whether it is there to find the political solution or whether it is there to simply support the Assad regime.”
Rick Gladstone reported from New York, and David E. Sanger from Astana, Kazakhstan.
New York Times
NOV. 2, 2015
Iran suggested on Monday that it might withdraw from the new peace talks on Syria because of what Iranian officials described as the unconstructive role of Saudi Arabia, Iran’s rival for dominance in the Middle East.
It was unclear whether the suggestion, carried via state-run news media, was serious or more akin to diplomatic posturing, since Iran would have much to lose if it were to leave talks it has long sought to attend.
The Iranian warning came three days after representatives from Iran and Saudi Arabia sat in the same room for the first time at a formal diplomatic meeting in Vienna of nearly 20 countries, including Russia and the United States, aimed at finding a way to end the Syrian civil war, now in its fifth year.
Little was decided at that meeting except that Syria’s territorial integrity must remain intact and that participants would reconvene within a few weeks.
Iran and Russia support President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, while the United States and Saudi Arabia support an array of Mr. Assad’s opponents who want him to relinquish power as part of any settlement. The Saudis are especially insistent that Mr. Assad should have no role in Syria’s future.
The war has left a quarter-million people dead, displaced millions more, helped incubate Islamic extremism in the region and contributed to a major refugee crisis pressing on Europe.
“In the first round of talks, some countries, especially Saudi Arabia, played a negative and unconstructive role,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, was quoted as saying by the Iranian Students’ News Agency and other official outlets. “Iran will not participate if the talks are not fruitful.”
Mr. Abdollahian’s statement at least illustrated the deep divide with Saudi Arabia, which has accused the Iranians of fomenting instability not just in Syria but elsewhere in the region where the Saudis have a direct interest, most notably in Yemen and Bahrain.
The Iranians have leveled the same accusation at the Saudis, as seen Monday in a speech by President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, who urged Saudi Arabia to end what he called its intrusive policies.
“If Saudi Arabia’s outlook on general regional issues is brought closer to realities and it renounces its meddling, many problems including those concerning relations can be solved in the new conditions,” Mr. Rouhani was quoted by the Iranian state news outlet Press TV and other media as telling Iranian ambassadors at a meeting in Tehran.
The antipathy between Tehran and Riyadh is regarded by Secretary of State John Kerry and others as one of the biggest challenges to a diplomatic solution in Syria.
Mr. Kerry, who was in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Monday, said in an interview with that country’s Mir TV that resolving the Syria conflict was also tied to winning Russia’s agreement that Mr. Assad must step down.
“We’d like to be able to do more with Russia, but that depends on Russia really making the decision that they have to help settle the political part of the war,” Mr. Kerry said. “We have to deal with the future of President Assad, we have to deal with how we will find a political solution.”
Mr. Kerry said the meeting in Vienna last week, which also included all of Syria’s neighbors as well as European powers, was “very effective.” But he also said that Russia, which has intervened militarily in recent weeks to bolster Mr. Assad, had still not made clear “whether it is there to find the political solution or whether it is there to simply support the Assad regime.”
Rick Gladstone reported from New York, and David E. Sanger from Astana, Kazakhstan.
No comments:
Post a Comment