Pro-Assad Iran joins civil war dialogue

BEIRUT: Iran took part in international talks on Syria for the first time this week, giving it a voice in the effort to find a resolution to the more than four-year-old civil war that has so far defied even the slightest progress toward peace.

A crucial backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran has been shunned from all previous talks on Syria. Its inclusion now marks recognition by the United States that no discussion on Syria’s future can succeed without Iran at the table.

News of Iran’s attendance outraged Syrian rebels, who said its participation will only prolong the conflict.

The gathering yesterday and today in Vienna will also put Iran in the same room with its most bitter regional rival, Saudi Arabia, raising the potential for tensions. The kingdom, along with other Gulf countries, has been funnelling weapons to rebel factions, while Iran has sent financing, weapons and military advisers to ensure Mr Assad’s survival.

Iran’s participation reflects its newfound place in the international community following the nuclear deal reached with world powers earlier this year. It also shows the seismic shift brought about by Russia’s direct military involvement in Syria since launching a campaign of air strikes on behalf of Mr Assad last month. That intervention has emboldened Mr Assad’s supporters.

Russia’s intervention — and its insistence that it seeks a political solution — have created a new dynamic. While no one expects a breakthrough, the Vienna talks are the most serious attempt yet to put an end to a conflict that has killed a quarter of a million people and displaced millions of others, touching off a humanitarian crisis of spectacular proportions and unleashing Islamic extremists across the Middle East.

Defeating the Islamic State group, which controls about a third of the country and precipitated last year’s creation of a US-led military coalition to fight them, also appears to be a common and potentially unifying goal of all those attending. There is no question among the participants of including the extremist entity in any future Syria may have.

The core power players at the talks are Russia and Iran, the two top supporters of Mr Assad, and the US, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the top backers of the opposition. Those countries, with the exception of Iran, attended a first round of talks in Vienna last week.

Who’s not there? Mr Assad’s government and the Syrian opposition.

That reflects the intent of the gathering. It’s not a negotiation between combatants; it’s an attempt by the outside powers with a hand in the conflict to reach common ground on a solution. If the track eventually leads to progress, the parties would then have to persuade — or, more likely, strongarm — their allies in Syria to go along.

The conference has also been widened from last week’s round to include countries from around the region and Europe. The expansion from a huddle of the key players to an international conference appears aimed at ensuring that all those who could influence the conflict are roped into backing any results.

Among those invited are Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, all backers of the rebels, as well as the Iranian-allied Iraqi government and Lebanon, home to the Shia Hezbollah guerrilla force that has also sent fighters to shore up Mr Assad.

At the heart of the Vienna talks — and the most contentious issue — is the future of Mr Assad.

Participants are trying to resuscitate the 2012 Geneva Communique which called for the formation of a transitional government in Syria that would oversee free and fair elections as part of a broader political transition.

Yet in the 40 months since the communique was signed by Russia, the US and other nations — though not Iran — there has been no movement toward implementing it, mainly because talks have always hit a wall when it comes to what role, if any, Mr Assad should have in the transition.

The United States says it’s willing to see Mr Assad participate in the transition but he must step down. Saudi Arabia has said Mr Assad must go first, although it has appeared to soften that stance. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Wednesday Mr Assad must step down “within a specific timeframe”.