Iran’s FM: No agreement on Major Issues in Syria Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian foreign minister said that there "seems to be no agreement" on two key issues just hours before the latest international conference on Syria in New York on Friday.
Iran has seen "no lists we can agree upon" of Syrian opposition groups that should be included in peace negotiations set to begin by January 1, 2016, or of Syrian groups that should be considered terrorist organizations instead, Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Associated Press on Thursday.
"Card-carrying members of al-Qaeda do not satisfy the conditions that we set for members of the opposition," Zarif told reporters.
"The opposition should be serious, and it should be inclusive."
Zarif also said "we still don't know" if there will be any concrete progress in the talks that are aimed at bringing an end to Syria's conflict.
The New York Friday meeting comes following two rounds of talks held in the Austrian capital of Vienna on October 30 and November 14 to discuss settlement of the ongoing crisis in Syria.
The participants agreed in the last negotiations to meet again in “approximately one month” to review progress toward a ceasefire and the start of a political process in the violence-scarred country.
Influential countries like Russia, the United States, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, as well as representatives from the Syrian government and opposition groups have taken part in the recent negotiations on Syria.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with Takfiri terrorists from various groups, including the Daesh, currently controlling parts of it.