Finally,�Geneva II�is about to commence, with around 30 countries taking part in the one-day conference in Montreux, Switzerland. Iran was to be among the main guests after UN�Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon extended a relatively surprising invitation to take part in the long-awaited peace conference. But in less than 24 hours the allurement was retracted; the secretary-general said the retraction was due to�Iran�s stances which weren�t at all consistent with the global consensus behind the Geneva I communique, making Iran the most prominent absentee.
So, what does Iran think about the UN decision?
�We announced from the very beginning that we would accept no preconditions for Iran?s participation in the Geneva II Conference,� said Iran�s Foreign Minister�Mohammad Javad Zarif. �In several phone conversations with the UN secretary-general last week, we had told him Iran would accept no preconditions and rejected a proposal from the UN chief that Iran must acknowledge the communiqu� of Geneva I conference on Syria.��Zarif bitterly criticized Ban, accusing him of making his decision �under pressure from the United States�and certain groups, a number of whom have shed the blood of the Syrian people.�
Earlier, I spoke with Hussein Amir Abdullahyan, Iran�s deputy foreign minister, who told�Al-Monitor�that the United States is insisting in an illogical way on imposing preconditions for participation in Geneva II: �These pre-conditions contradict with the democratic norms. Only the Syrian people have the right to impose such decisions.� Abdullahyan, who was to represent Iran in the peace conference, made it clear that Iran wasn�t part of Geneva I and is not insisting on being part of Geneva II: �If it weren�t for the pre-conditions our delegation should have been in Montreux in Switzerland.�
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