Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, hinted that Tehran would reconsider its participation in the next round of the Syrian talks in Vienna II scheduled to take place on Saturday if it is “accurate” that some of the countries such as the United States are “pushing forward their own ideas and also consulting specific countries.” Tehran has been sidelined in the Vienna I talks but has recently been seen as a player that could contribute to ending the Syrian war through a political agreement.
Amir-Abdollahian told IRNA that Iran is willing to solve the Syrian crisis “in a correct, transparent and clear manner” but violation of the nine-point statement agreed upon in the first round could force Tehran to forgo future rendezvous. He also explained that Tehran and Moscow have “close position” on Syria and that has developed into a “shared position.”
Both have military forces on the ground.
Meanwhile, ISIS has released a video featuring Russian troops claiming that “blood will spill like an ocean” in what apparently seems like direct threatening of Moscow.
Elsewhere, President Rouhani stated that the tense relations between his country and the US would one day come to an end. “If they (Americans) modify their policies, correct errors committed in these 37 years and apologize to the Iranian people, the situation will change and good things can happen,” he said. Diplomatic ties between the two countries were forsaken after 1979 Islamic revolution. Rouhani is hopeful that the nuclear agreement could pave the way for a new beginning but stresses that “if the Americans don’t respect their part of the nuclear accord, then surely our relationship will remain as it has been in the past.”
