Kerry Indicates a Possible Role for Iran at Syria Conference

[Jroc]

Iran Obama's new friends.....I'm sure Iran will be very helpful

“Iran could participate very easily if they would simply accept publicly the Geneva I premise on which Geneva II is based,” Kerry said. “If Iran doesn’t support that, it’s very difficult to see how they’re going to be ‘a ministerial partner’ in the process.”

But then he went further.

“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,” he said.

“But that has to be determined by the [U.N.] secretary-general and it has to be determined by Iranian intentions themselves,” he added. “I think that we’re happy to have Iran be helpful. Everybody is happy to have Iran be helpful.”

The U.S. and other Western governments have long characterized Tehran as a major part of the problem in the Syrian crisis, rather than potentially part of the solution. Iran has provided Assad with significant military support, and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah has also been deeply involved in the civil war, fighting on the side of the regime.

Policy Shift? Kerry Indicates a Possible Role for Iran at Syria Conference | CNS News