Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 18
By Umid Niayesh- Trend:
UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon had a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif upon the Geneva 2 international peace conference, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Jan. 18.
The Geneva 2 peace conference is a proposed UN backed international conference to be held in Geneva with the aim of ending the Syrian civil war. It is planned to be held on Jan. 22.
Zarif said that the UN Secretary General has called him last night, adding that Iran will not accept any preconditions for joining the Geneva 2 conference.
Iran will participate in the conference if it is officially invited without preconditions, he added.
Washington has opposed Iran's attendance at Geneva 2 because it has not signed up to a core element of the so-called 'Geneva 1' framework. This says a future Syrian government must be formed by 'mutual consent' of the authorities and the opposition, a stance the United States says means Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cannot stay in power.
The Syrian conflict lasted more than two years and killed more than 100,000 people as well as uprooting millions more.