US officials have confirmed that Iran is invited to participate in the next round of Syria transition talks, scheduled to begin in Vienna on Thursday. Russia delivered the invitation, and while Iran hasn’t formally responded, they presumably will take part.
There is some speculation that Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruling out further talks with the US makes them less likely to attend this meeting, however Iran is a close ally of the Syrian government and will be one of the few such allies allowed at the table, along with Russia, virtually obliging their involvement.
So far there are not full details on this round of talks, including a full list of invitees. Reportedly several Arab and European nations will be taking part, so apparently the US backed off its previous opposition to Western European nations being involved in the process.
Saudi Arabia is said to have been the primary opposition to Iranian involvement in the talks, though rebel factions are also none too happy. It’s unclear the extent to which the rebels are going to be involved however, or indeed if they or Syria’s government will play any direct role in these talks.
"US officials have confirmed that Iran is invited to participate in the next round of Syria transition talks, scheduled to begin in Vienna on Thursday. Russia delivered the invitation, and while Iran hasn’t formally responded, they presumably will take part." The country is in the middle east and it has to be invited by the US! Goodness me!
Why isn't anyone objecting to Saudi Arabia's presence?
The USG government needs the Iranian government as well as Syrian, Iraqi legitimate government to be on board and negotiating for peace in Syria and Iraq. Meanwhile tgey need to fight the Saudi barbarians by all means, we said it while ago, the problem in Syria is not created by the Syrian people but rather Saudis-Wahhabism-Qatari mercenaries and barbarians which therefore Saudis opposing the idea. We also said it from the beginning, the present wars in Middle East needs to be solved by the Iranians, Iraqis and Syrian people, all others are the main reasons for this war being dragged on.
The significant thing is that, as in Ukraine, if Putin wants talks, it means that he sees himself as defeated militarily. As in Ukraine, he is now bogged down in Syria. He will want to keep Assad in office as long as possible, even if officially on a "temporay" basis. If he can get that, his strategy will probably be to stall: constantly finding excuses to put off a "definitive", post-Assad settlement. In both Ukraine and Syria, Putin is cornered and he knows it, so he'll just hang on desperately in the hope that he'll find some way out.
Any Syrians at this meeting?
It's almost like the "Friends of Iran" scene from the movie Syriana.