Yhdysvaltain Ulkoministeri John Kerry
Yhdysvallat vaikuttaa suhtautuvan suopeammin ajatukseen, että Iran olisi jollain tavalla mukana tulevassa Syyria-rauhankokouksessa.
Ulkoministeri John Kerry sanoi sunnuntaina, että Iranilla ei voi olla virallista roolia kokouksessa. Maa voisi ehkä kuitenkin osallistua rauhanponnisteluihin tapaamisen yhteydessä.
– Olemme iloisia, jos Iran haluaa auttaa. Kaikki ovat iloisia, jos Iran auttaa — voi olla, että löytyy keinoja, miten niin voi tapahtua, Kerry muotoili
Iran on Syyrian presidentin Bashar al-Assadin vankka tukija.
Kerryn mukaan Iranin roolista päättää YK:n pääsihteeri Ban Ki-moon. YK:n ja Arabiliiton Syyria-lähettiläs Lakhdar Brahimi sanoi viime kuussa, että YK:ssa suhtaudutaan myönteisesti Iranin osallistumiseen.
Rauhanneuvotteluja on kaavailtu Sveitsiin 22. tammikuuta.
Näin Ulkoministeri John Kerry virallisesti vastasi:
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you mentioned the Geneva II conference a moment ago. You’re less than two weeks out from that event now, and the question as to whether Iran will be invited is still open. What is your current position? Do you want to see Iran included? And even if they don’t sign up to all of the principles of Geneva I, isn’t it better to have them working alongside you than potentially (inaudible)?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Iran could participate very easily if they would simply accept publicly the Geneva I premise on which Geneva II is based. We are not going to Geneva to just have a discussion. We are going with the purpose of implementing Geneva I. That was the premise originally that Foreign Minister Lavrov and I announced in Moscow. That has been the premise of organizing this. That will be the premise of the invitation that is sent out by the secretary general of the United Nations. We are going to implement Geneva I, which calls for a transition government by mutual consent with full executive authority; and if Iran doesn’t support that, it’s very difficult to see how they’re going to be “a ministerial partner” in the process.
Now, could they contribute from the sidelines? Are there ways for them conceivably to weigh in? Can their mission that is already in Geneva be there in order to help the process? It may be that there are ways that that could happen. But that has to be determined by the secretary general and it has to be determined by Iranian intentions themselves. But in terms of a formal invitation or participation, that is for those who support the Geneva I implementation, and that’s the purpose of the Geneva conference.
QUESTION: Would you like to see Foreign Minister Zarif attend on the sidelines then at the invitation of the secretary general —
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I think I just spoke to it. I think that we’re happy to have Iran be helpful. Everybody is happy to have Iran be helpful. But we have a huge piece of business on the table with Iran right now to complete the task of the implementation language and get moving with respect to the negotiations on their own nuclear program and the challenge of that particular relationship.
So Iran knows exactly what it has to do with respect to the nuclear program as well as with respect to Geneva II. And it’s very simple: come join the community of nations and do what all of us are committed to doing, which is try to bring about a peaceful resolution in Syria by virtue of the implementation of Geneva I.
The End