January 22, 2014 (TSR) – Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amirabdollahian said Iran is not to participate in the Geneva II Conference because of the US irrational insistence on setting conditions for it according to an interview with IRNA.
He said despite Iran?s readiness for unconditional participation in the Geneva 2 talks, the US insisted on setting preconditions for the country.
He added that Washington is insisting in an illogical manner on the need for Iran to accept the preconditions especially regarding issues which only the Syrian nation is to decide on according to the international laws and well-known democratic principles.
Amirabdollahian noted that Iran clearly announced on Monday that it played no role in the Geneva I meeting including the compilation of its final statement.
He said Iran has no urge to participate in the upcoming meeting on Syria.
On Sunday, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Iran had been invited to the Geneva II conference on the Syrian crisis.
Iran had previously said that it would not attend the conference if conditions are set for its participation.
Though Iran plays a pivotal role in resolving the Syrian crisis, the Syrian opposition threatened to walk out of the talks if Iran attends and gave the United Nations an 11 pm GMT deadline.
The UN succumb to the blackmail.
On Thursday, the Iranian foreign minister described as unacceptable any preconditions for the Islamic Republic’s participation in the talks.
On the sideline of the funeral procession of an Iranian diplomat, assassinated in Sana?a last Saturday morning, the deputy minister said that Geneva II conference on Syria is a political show and a failure.
Abolqassem Assadi, 57, financial and consulate officer of Iran’s embassy in Sana’a was assassinated on Jan 18.
Amir-Abdollahian also underlined that the international conference will not achieve any appropriate outcomes and needs more sessions in order to help settle the Syrian crisis.
The Geneva II conference kicks off in the Swiss city of Montreux on January 22 and then move to the UN headquarters in Geneva on January 24 after a one-day break.
The talks are aimed at finding a political solution to the deadly crisis that has gripped Syria since 2011.
The UN says more than four million Syrians will be forced out of their homes in 2014 by the escalating conflict in the country that has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced millions so far.
Head of Strategic Research Center of Iran?s Expediency Council Ali-Akbar Velayati too said on Monday Iran will accept no pre-condition for participation in the international conference on Syria.
The very negative point of Geneva-1 statement is that it requires the Syrian legitimate government and the country?s foreign-sponsored terrorists who have committed various crimes against Syrian people to form a transitional government, Velayati said.
He added that Iran never accepts Geneva I statement and believes that as long as the upcoming conference on Syria is based on that statement, Iran will not accept it as legitimate.
