Posted on 11/24/2013 10:24:47 PM PST by Praxeologue
LONDON — Could the nuclear deal with Iran help ease the way toward peace talks on ending Syria's civil war? Immediately after the accord with Iran was finalized, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary William Hague set to work to prepare a political transition to stop the fighting in Syria.
Iran is the principal backer of Syrian military strikes against government opponents and has made clear its intention to carry that influence to planned peace talks in Geneva.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says there is no excluding Tehran.
"Without any doubt, the Islamic Republic of Iran will play an active and constructive role in the political settlement of the Syrian problem," said Amir-Abdollahian.
So how does this weekend's deal to limit Iran's nuclear program affect its willingness to cooperate on Syria? Secretary Kerry said Iran choosing to "rejoin the community of nations" is an important first step toward playing a more constructive role in the region.
"It is fair to say that Iran’s choices have created a very significant barrier, and huge security concerns for our friends in the region, for Israel, for Gulf states and others, and obviously they have made certain choices that are deeply, profoundly unsettling in terms of stability in the region," said Kerry.
Tehran's support for Bashar al-Assad's military helps maintain its regional influence and resupply the Lebanon-based Islamic military group Hezbollah, while keeping its predominantly-Sunni Islam enemies off-balance, according to former U.S. ambassador Adam Ereli.
"Iran supporting Bashar al-Assad is as critical to the survival of the regime as developing a nuclear weapon," said Ereli.
From Geneva, Kerry came to London for talks with Hague on how Assad opponents might help form a transitional government.
While the main opposition coalition says it will take part in those talks, it is rejecting any further role for President Assad. Provisional opposition deputy prime minister Aiad Koudsi thinks talking with the regime is unlikely to produce any positive results.
"Sitting and negotiating with the Syrian regime is kind of like a useless process, a useless exercise. It is an exercise of futility that you cannot get anything out of it," said Koudsi.
That is a deal-breaker for the government in Damascus, which says it will not come to talks meant to topple the president. American University professor Akbar Ahmed thinks the Assad administration could provide an element of stability and prevent an all-out sectarian war from developing.
"You can see the tensions in a country like Syria, tensions which are contained by a strong man, a dictator. And when that dictator loosens his grip, as we saw with Iraq, suddenly all hell breaks loose," said Ahmed.
U.S. and Russian officials meeting Monday in Geneva to prepare for those talks are also working to address the war's humanitarian costs, including the needs of more than two million refugees who have fled from the fighting.
If successful, this would further isolate Israel, a primary Obama objective.
I don’t know but I am sure it’s a “thin red line.” Maybe Putin will explain that to Obama since he’s so clueless.
Iran’s support for Assad has been critically important to protect its nuclear program. In return for the support given Assad, Iran has received access to forward Syrian locations for its modern Chinese made short range mobile ballistic missiles. If Israel were to attack Iran, it could not stop a devastating counterattack from these missiles. Iran will do all in its power to keep Assad in power and its bases in Syria.
If so, then why has Israel not been more supportive of replacing Assad, beyond one toothless statement of preference?
BHO2 has probably done the impossible: driven Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait into the arms of Iran. They really have nowhere else to go.
This is completely incompetent of both BHO2 and John Kerry.
Arab Nations Silent On Iran Nuclear Deal
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/11/25/arab-nations-silent-iran-nuclear-deal
they won’t stop the fighting in Syria, they’re bankrolling it and sending in tons of arms to the rebels to wage the fight...
this is more BS from the same liars who bring it to us as a daily diet
The Israelis were big supporters of the “limited strikes” which were designed to give the rebels a huge advantage. However now that the al Qaeda has come to dominate the rebel opposition, it is not clear that Syria dominated by them is preferable to a weak Assad. However it is still their prime objective to get the Iranians out of Syria. Won’t be easy.
Secretary Kerry said Iran choosing to "rejoin the community of nations" is an important first step toward playing a more constructive role in the region. "It is fair to say that Iran’s choices have created a very significant barrier, and huge security concerns for our friends in the region, for Israel, for Gulf states and others, and obviously they have made certain choices that are deeply, profoundly unsettling in terms of stability in the region," said Kerry."Don't you know who I am?" Thanks Kennard.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Iran is in very deep in Syria in ways not generally known and certainly not known by the average Iranian. And, too, not in ways that the US media will report as it would harm Obama if it came out.
How is Iran “very deep in Syria”? Do you mean the “Chinese made short range mobile ballistic missiles” that allandale refers to? If you are aware of anything else, could you please let us know?
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