Geneva Peace Talks Crumbling: Syria Rebels, Iran May Not Attend

US Is Still Trying to Keep Iran From Being Invited

The Geneva II peace talks were initially scheduled for June, and after months were finally set up for January 22, with a watchmakers’ convention forcing the talks to Montreaux. Even though these talks have been “set” for weeks there remains doubt over whether they’ll actually happen.

That’s because as the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) loses what little credibility it had among the rebellion, Western nations have told them they believe any “transitional” government in Syria would need to be dominated by President Bashar Assad and supporters.

Somehow, the SNC remained convinced they’d be given control of the nation at the conference, and the sudden realization that this isn’t going to happen has them considering pulling out of the talks, and insisting they never “formally” agreed to attend.

With every other rebel group refusing to attend (except the Kurds, who haven’t been invited) these aren’t going to be very meaningful talks, and the US is back to arguing that Iran shouldn’t be allowed to attend either, meaning that much like Geneva I, this could end up being little more than the US and Russia and a handful of other foreign powers debating what solution they want to impose on Syria.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.