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U.S. and Iran willing to participate in Syria relief conference
18 November 2013
(LPAC)—Both the U.S. and Iran have indicated a willingness to participate in a conference on the humanitarian crisis in Syria, being convened by Valerie Amos, UN relief head, sometime in the next two weeks. Amos delivered a confidential report to the Security Council this month dealing with the humanitarian relief effort, noting that there is an increase in kidnappings of UN relief workers and hijacking of trucks carrying aid. Invitations to participate in the conference went to a dozen countries, including the U.S., Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Both the U.S. and Iran issued statements in response to the invitation indicating a willingness to attend. This relief conference is separate from the Geneva II conference being organized by Russia and the United States; however, Iranian participation would set a precedent for cooperation that could bolster the more challenging efforts to make the Geneva II meeting a success. It was reported by U.S. intelligence sources that, during last week’s P5+1 meetings in Geneva, Kofi Annan, the former UN-Arab League special emissary on Syria, was in the same hotel as the delegations, prompting speculation that Syria was a topic of bilateral discussions between the U.S. and Iranian negotiators. [js_] |