Russia, Turkey and Iran to oversee Syrian ceasefire
Rebels not on board with Iranian role
BEIRUT • Russia, Turkey and Iran, the sponsors of the peace talks between the Syrian government and rebels, have agreed to act as joint monitors for the war-torn country’s fragile ceasefire, in a promising step toward ending the violence.
The accord was signed by Ankara and Moscow — the two major powers brokering the negotiations — and Tehran, on behalf of the Syrian government and armed rebel groups, which have not officially endorsed it.
Bashar Jaafari, the Syrian government’s representative to the UN, immediately hailed the talks a success but the opposition said it had major reservations.
The 14-member rebel delegation objected to the inclusion of Iran, which they said could not be a credible monitor as its proxies on the ground had repeatedly violated the ceasefire.
They singled out Hezbollah, the Tehran-backed Lebanese Shiite militia, for carrying out attacks on the Wadi Barada valley outside Damascus, which has been fought over fiercely since the Dec. 30 truce came into force.
“The rebels do not trust Russia. This will be a test to see how much they can control their allies (the regime and Iran),” said Asaad Hanna, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army. “Moscow presented itself as the moderator, so it must moderate them.”
Iran has a great stake in the war, providing the manpower and resources that have helped Bashar Assad’s government. It has bolstered the regime in order to maintain its influence and secure a supply route through the country for Hezbollah in Lebanon. It sees the conflict in Syria as part of a broader Sunni-Shiite struggle. For this reason, the opposition does not believe Iran is serious about finding a political solution.
Such a deal seemed difficult to imagine a year ago, when the last peace talks in Geneva collapsed without agreement. It is the first time in the six-year war that the rebels and the government had sat in the same room as each other, albeit briefly.
Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Kazakhstan’s foreign minister, read a final statement following the talks in Astana, the Kazakh capital, saying that the sides will “establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire and prevent any provocations.” Talks between the two sides have seen greater success with the detente between Russia and Turkey and the side-lining of the U.S.
Negotiations between Moscow and Washington had been characterized by deep divisions and mistrust between the former Cold War foes.
The three sponsors also agreed to joint efforts to combat ISIL and the need for more moderate rebels to distance themselves from Islamist groups.
But even as talks took place, the situation of the ground was in flux. Jaish Fateh al-Sham, a jihadist group that formerly had links to al-Qaida, launched an attack on moderate rebels represented at the talks in Astana.
The attack targeted Free Syrian Army groups in northwestern Syria in Idlib, the rebellion’s main territorial foothold after the opposition’s defeat in Aleppo last month.