Iran’s Zarif Due in Geneva for Talks on Syria Constitutional Committee

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi announced on Monday evening that Zarif would go to Geneva to attend a trilateral consultative meeting with his Russian and Turkish counterparts and the UN secretary general’s special envoy for Syria for talks on the Syrian constitutional committee.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria who steps down at year-end, has tried since January to clinch an agreement on the identity of 150 members of the new constitutional committee to revitalize a dormant peace process.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and the opposition have each submitted a list of 50 names, but Iran, Russia and Turkey have haggled over the final 50 members from civil society and “independent” members.

De Mistura said at the weekend the constitutional committee could be a starting point for political progress.