The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, yesterday withdrewn earlier invitation made to Iran to attend tomorrow's Peace Talks on Syria.
Fears circulated that the peace-talks was was hanging by the thread after the opposition said they will not attend the talks if Iran sends a delegation.
In official statement released by the United Nations News Centre, the UN Scribe said he was deeply disappointed and was withdrawing the invitation because Iran's public statements were totally inconsistent with oral assurances he had been given.
The withdrawal was made less than 24 hours after an invitation was made to Iran to attend the talks scheduled for Wednesday January 22nd, 2014.
The official statement “The Secretary-General is deeply disappointed by Iranian public statements today that are not at all consistent with that stated commitment,”
Mr. Ban’s spokesperson, Martin Nesirky, said in a statement at UN Headquarters in New York “He continues to urge Iran to join the global consensus behind the Geneva Communiqué. Given that it has chosen to remain outside that basic understanding, he has decided that the one-day Montreux gathering will proceed without Iran’s participation.”
The UN Scribe said he invited Iran after Foreign Minister Javad Zarif assured him that his country understands that the basis of the talks is full implementation of an action plan adopted in the so-called Geneva Communique of 2012, which calls for a transitional government to lead to free and fair elections, the statement said.
The withdrawal folowed media reports indicating that Syria’s political opposition had threatened to withdraw from the talks if Iran was not dropped from the list by the the Secretary General.
The statement said the Secretary-General looked forward to joining the US and Russia, as well as some 40 other States and organizations that will attend “this long-awaited and hugely important push for peace.
“The Syrian parties, the region and the international community have an opportunity and a responsibility to end the violence and begin a transition towards a new Syria,” the statement said.
The withdrawal is further evidence that the United Nations and all supporters of peace are prepared to make necessary compromises to achieve an peace end to the conflict that had claimed over 120.000 lives and displaced millions.
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