Annan stresses Iran’s key role in Syrian peace talks

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Iran plays a crucial role in providing stability in the Middle East. In an interview with Reuters, Annan said that "if we are going to have peace and stability in the Middle East, it is essential that Iran plays its natural role in the region". Annan's remarks came after his successor as UN Chief Ban Ki-moon sent a letter to Iran last Monday to invite the country to the Geneva II peace conference on Syria. The invitation enraged the US, Britain and the main Syrian opposition body, which warned it would not turn up in the Swiss town of Montreux unless Iran conceded on the issue of a transitional government, a central pillar of western-backed attempts to oust President Bashar al-Assad. The US said the UN must take back its invitation. The threat and the pressures by the US-led West could eventually make Ban Ki-moon rescind his invitation to Iran. The 2012 Geneva communiqué outlines measures for a transition of power in Syria, and its key demand means Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will have to step down. As soon as Iran's invitation was rescinded, Syria's opposition national coalition immediately confirmed its participation in the forthcoming talks, known as Geneva II.