Iran sees no chance for ending Syrian crisis without President Assad's partnership

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif extended Tehran's full support for a diplomatic solution to the bloodshed in Syria, and described a Syria without President Bashar al-Assad as only an illusion of the foreign-backed rebels. In an interview with the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Daily on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, the top Iranian diplomat underlined Iran's deep concern over the ongoing bloodshed in Syria, and called for an immediate ceasefire across the Muslim country. He strongly criticized the Syrian opposition and their foreign backers, and stressed, "We must bury the illusion that a solution to the Syrian crisis can be found without President (Bashar) al-Assad's partnership (in the country's political scene)." A media report on Monday said that the preconditions of the US and its Arab allies for Geneva II Syria Peace talks and also their pressures on the UN Chief to rescind his invitation to Iran left no doubts that the conference was designed to fail to prepare the ground for another military intervention in the region. Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers in a joint article for Antiwar website said that “the Geneva II conference which claims to be seeking to end the war in Syria seems designed to fail and instead to provide an excuse for military intervention by the United States and its allies”. Human rights activist, Ajamu Baraka, described the negotiations as an "Orwellian subterfuge" designed to provide justification for war and a lot of facts support his view. The Antiwar article added that the main reason for this claim is the precondition of the US and its allies for the Syrian government to put Bashar al-Assad aside before coming to the so-called peace talks. The authors continued that the other element that impeded the talks was the limited participation of impressive parties like Iran which were excluded by the UN General Director under the pressure of the US and its puppet opposition groups. “Iran is a close ally of Syria and keeping them out of the negotiations is an effort to weaken and isolate Syria. It is an indication of a desire by the United States for a preordained conclusion rather than a fair negotiation between the parties,” the writers added. Referring to the arming of opposition groups by the US, they concluded that "on one hand the US claims to be seeking peace and with the other it is fueling war with weapons. In public, the Congress opposed war with Syria, but in secret votes it provides funding for weapons for the Syrian war". The conflict in Syria started in March 2011, when sporadic pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of western and regional states. The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle-East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history. As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end in sight, the US government has boosted its political and military support to Takfiri extremists. Washington has remained indifferent to warnings by Russia and other world states against the dire consequences of arming militant groups.