‘Syria committed to Iran’s participation in Geneva II meet’

Damascus – Syria is committed to Iran’s participation in the upcoming Geneva II peace conference, the Syrian government said Sunday.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Moallem said it’s illogical to exclude Iran for political reasons by the US and the exiled Syrian opposition, Xinhua reported.

The US and the exiled opposition have shown adamant stance regarding the participation of Iran in the Geneva II conference.

Around 30 nations are going to attend the Jan 22 conference in the city of Montreux, Switzerland and the actual negotiations between the representatives of both the government and opposition are scheduled to start two days later Jan 24 in Geneva.

The international envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said recently that the US remained unconvinced that Iran’s participation “would be the right thing to do”.

“It’s no secret that we in the United Nations welcome the participation of Iran, but our partners in the United States are still not convinced,” Brahimi said Friday.