
Iran’s foreign ministry has announced that Iran will take part in the Geneva 2 talks regarding the Syrian conflict.
Yesterday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced that he had extended an invitation to Iran to join the Geneva conference aimed at finding a solution to the Syrian conflict.
Marzeih Afkham, the spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, announced today: “Based on the official invitation, Iran will participate in this conference without any preconditions.”
The U.S. had insisted that Iran should formally accept the outcome of the Geneva 1 talks as a precondition for participation in the second round of talks.
Ban Ki-moon reported, however, that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had given him assurances that “the basis of the talks is the full implementation of the 30 June 2012, Geneva communique.”
The Syrian opposition, which had just recently announced that it would attend the talks, is now threatening to withdraw if Iran is welcomed.
The talks are scheduled to take place in two days in Switzerland, and the final guest list is still uncertain.