VIENNA | BY
Washington stuck to its demand on Thursday that Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad leave power, ahead of peace talks which will include Assad's main ally
Iran for the first time, reflecting his stronger position since Russia joined
the war on his side.
Throughout four years of war that has killed 250,000
people and driven more than 10 million from their homes, Assad's main ally
Tehran was locked out of a succession of international peace conferences, all
of which ended in failure.
But four weeks after Russia began bombing Assad's enemies on the ground,
the countries that demand he leave office, including the United States,
European powers and Saudi Arabia, have agreed to give Iran a seat at the
negotiating table.
"Those who tried to resolve the Syrian crisis have come to the
conclusion that without Iran being present, there is no way to reach a
reasonable solution to the crisis," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif said on his arrival in Vienna on Thursday ahead of Friday's conference.
Zarif met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday in Vienna for
talks on other issues including the July nuclear agreement between Iran and
global powers. Kerry also met Russia's Sergei Lavrov and the foreign ministers
of Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
State Department counsellor Tom Shannon said in Washington Kerry would
use the conference to see whether Tehran and Moscow were willing to accept a
change of leadership in Damascus, and also gauge their commitment to fighting
the Islamic State group.
Kerry would assess the extent to which Iran and Russia "are
prepared to work broadly with the international community to convince Mr Assad
that during a political transition process he will have to go," Shannon
said.
The United States and its European and Middle Eastern allies have
demanded Assad agree to leave power as part of any peace deal. He refuses to
go, and Russia and Iran have consistently rejected any such demands.
Russia's 4-week-old air campaign on Assad's behalf, which has been
accompanied by an Iranian-backed ground offensive, makes the prospect that
Assad's insurgent foes can force him out of power on the battlefield look more
remote than ever. Some Western officials have spoken lately of temporary
arrangements under which Assad could remain for a certain period.
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