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Iran's absence from the second international conference on peace settlement in Syria, which is due to be held January 22 in Switzerland, will deprive its participants of an important factor of support, much needed for settling the conflict.
Iranian Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaei told reporters Tuesday when he was asked to comment on UN's decision to revoke the invitation to Teheran to take part in the conference.
Khazaei said it was important wait for the results of the conference but he thought that the participants had lost Iran's support anyway.
He also answered a question from Itar-Tass, saying he did not share either optimism about or trust in the ability of the participants to resolve the problems Syria had bumped into.
Khazaei said he hoped future political efforts might help the Syrians tap a way out of the crisis - a political solution that would be led by the Syrian people itself, adding that outside players should not impose their decisions on the Syrians.
If the talks are held to the accompaniment of diktat of outside forces, they will be doomed, he said.
Martin Nesirky, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary General said earlier that Iran would not take part in the conference in Montreux, since it did not share the common understanding of the principles of Syrian conflict settlement as featured in the June 30, 2012, Geneva communiqu, which envisions the setting up of a transition government in Syria.
Ambassador Khazaei recalled in this connection that Iran had not accepted the Geneva communiqu provisions from the very start but it had voiced readiness to take part in the conference without any preconditions.
The second international conference on peace settlement in Syria, often referred to as Geneva-2, opens in Montreux January 22. It will be attended by Foreign Ministers of 39 countries, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the heads of the Arab League and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, as well as the delegations of the Syrian government and the opposition.
January 24, the Administration of President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian opposition representation by the 'national coalition' will continue a search for the ways of peace settlement at talks at UN's Geneva office.
TASS
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