U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited Iran to participate in
upcoming peace talks on Syria, a move that immediately angered the
opposition.
The invitation to this week’s
opening-day session of the so-called Geneva 2 came as he held a surprise
news conference at U.N. headquarters Sunday night.
“As I have said repeatedly, I believe strongly that Iran needs to be part of the solution to the Syrian crisis,” Ban said.
The Secretary-General added that he has spoken “at length” with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in recent days.
“He has assured me that, like all the
other countries invited to the opening day discussions in Montreux, Iran
understands that the basis of the talks is the full implementation of
the 30 June 2012 Geneva Communique, including the Action Plan.
“Foreign Minister Zarif and I agree that
the goal of the negotiations is to establish, by mutual consent, a
transitional governing body with full executive powers. It was on that
basis that Foreign Minister Zarif pledged that Iran would play a
positive and constructive role in Montreux,” Ban said.
Zarif said on Iranian state TV that Iran
will send a delegation to the Geneva 2 conference, but will not accept
any preconditions for their attendance.
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