John Kerry: Talk to Iran for Syria Ceasefire
Robert Naiman - Moveon
Over the holiday weekend, two major developments occurred on the Iran diplomacy front: the interim nuclear deal with UN Security Council members and Germany took effect, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon invited Iran to the second Syria peace conference, called Geneva II, which starts January 22. [1] [2]
If you've seen the news the last few days, you may already know that Secretary of State John Kerry pressured Secretary General Ban to withdraw Iran's invitation to Geneva II purportedly because Iran never agreed to the terms of the Geneva communiqué, the outcome of the previous peace conference that Iran was also not invited to. [3]
But just last week, Kerry admitted that Iran was a “major actor” in the Syria conflict and that “no other nation has its people on the ground fighting in the way that they are.” [4] Given this, how can the US expect to secure a ceasefire without Iranian cooperation?
With real progress being made in the nuclear talks, now is the time to also talk to Iran about Syria.
Urge John Kerry to stop blocking Iran's involvement in the Syria talks and to work with Iran to secure a ceasefire to stop the killing.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/kerry-syria-talks
I explained why excluding Iran from the talks makes no sense in a piece today at Huffington Post.
You can read and share that here:
Excluding Iran from the Syria Talks: A Stupid Policy That Must Fall
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/iran-syria-peace-talks_b_4646544.html
Thanks for all you do to help bring about a just foreign policy,
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
References:
1. “Iran begins enrichment cap as nuclear deal with world powers takes effect,” Barbara Slavin, Al Jazeera, http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/19/iran-world-powersstartinterimphaseofnuclearagreement.html
2. “UN Invites Iran to Syria Talks, Raising Objections From the US,” Somini Sengupta and Michael R. Gordon, New York Times, January 19, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/world/middleeast/un-invites-iran-to-peace-conference-on-syria-surprising-us-officials.html
3. “Iran blames US for blocking it from Syria peace talks in Geneva,” Jason Rezaian, Washington Post, January 21, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iran-blames-us-for-blocking-it-from-syria-peace-talks-in-geneva/2014/01/21/53814508-8276-11e3-a273-6ffd9cf9f4ba_story.html
4. “UN Invites Iran to Syria Talks, Raising Objections From the US,” Somini Sengupta and Michael R. Gordon, New York Times, January 19, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/world/middleeast/un-invites-iran-to-peace-conference-on-syria-surprising-us-officials.html