Iran Advises US Not to Repeat Failed Experience of Geneva I Conference

Senior Iranian parliamentary officials on Monday cautioned Washington to avoid repeating the mistake it committed at the time of the Geneva I conference on Syria and impeded Tehran’s participation in the gathering.

 “The continued policy of ignoring Iran in the Middle-East scene will certainly result in continued instability to the region,” Rapporteur of the parliament’s Presiding Board Abdulreza Mesri said on Monday.

 “The contents of the Geneva I agreement were never put into action and a main reason for this was Iran’s absence and it seems that the same mistake is being repeated in the Geneva II again,” he added.

Mesri said given Iran’s weight and power at domestic and international scenes, the westerners should invite Iran to the Geneva II conference to get rid of their self-made crisis in the Middle-East.

His remarks came after US Secretary of State John Kerry opposed Tehran’s participation in the Geneva II conference at ministerial level, although he asked for Tehran’s sidelined presence in the gathering.

Kerry said that it would be difficult to see how Iran could be a ministerial partner in the Geneva II talks. However, he said that Tehran could play a helpful role in finding a solution to the conflict in Syria.

Kerry suggested that Iran’s diplomatic office in Geneva might be able to help as an unofficial participant.

In response, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham reiterated Iran’s full support for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria, and urged the US secretary of state to see the region’s realities, including Iran’s undeniably influential and positive role in the settlement of regional disputes.

Criticizing Kerry’s proposal for Iran’s sidelined participation in the Geneva II conference, Afkham said Tehran would only accept the proposals which are in line with its dignity.

Kerry’s comments came as Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said the International Geneva II Peace Conference can play a significant role in ending the crisis in Syria, but meantime cautioned that the Syrian people and government believe that the decisions to be made at the conference will be impractical and ineffective if Iran is not invited to the meeting.

“Syria is committed to Iran’s joining to the (international Geneva II) peace conference,” said al-Moallem late December.

“It is illogical that the United States or the so-called opposition to exclude this country (Iran) from the (Geneva II) conference for political reasons,” the foreign minister added.

Also earlier in December, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a phone talk with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated the necessity for Tehran’s participation in the Geneva II conference.

After the UN announced the date for the gathering, Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran would be in Geneva on January 22, unless the US-led West tries to set a precondition for Tehran.

Source:FNA

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