Iran still to decide on Syria talks in Vienna

President Vladimir Putin says the Russian air campaign in Syria will continue as long as it’s necessary to support the Syrian army offensive against “terrorists”.

One UN Security Council diplomat described the Russian reform proposal to AFP as “back-of-the-envelope stuff”, and said it was “not the answer”. But it avoids any mention of the future of Bashar al-Assad, the key issue in contention after a war that has already claimed 250,000-300,000 lives and made millions homeless.

At peace talks in Vienna last week, the United States was understood to have offered tentative support for an agreement under which Mr Assad stays in power for 18 months, providing Moscow offered guarantees that he would not stand for political office again at the end. The group captured thousands of minority Yazidis living there, including women.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister said that Tehran has yet to decide whether it will join another round of talks on the Syria crisis in Vienna due this week, Lebanese and Iranian media reported. Iran and Saudi Arabia are regional rivals.

Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, will seek to nail down with Arab and European diplomats which Syrian political factions will be allowed to take part in the political process, and which will be defined as terrorist organizations.

Zarif, whose attendance at a previous round marked a more prominent diplomatic role for Iran after the nuclear deal, won’t be in Vienna this time, according to Iranian news agency Tasnim.

A proposal by Russian Federation for a settlement of the conflict in Syria sparked criticism from Western and Arab officials concerned that it doesn’t address President Bashar al-Assad’s fate.

Neither representatives of the regime nor opposition are expected to attend at this stage of the dialogue.

The plan called for setting up a constitutional commission to draft Syrian political reforms, and specified that Assad would not be allowed to chair that commission. The proposal also says the presidential office would retain control of the army and foreign policy.

As for who should run the country, ‘it is all in the hands of the Syrians.

Some 20 countries and worldwide bodies will meet in Vienna Saturday to push forward a peace plan for Syria that would include a ceasefire between Assad’s regime and some opposition groups.

The request to identify acceptable opposition groups is awkward for the USA, which abandoned an unsuccessful effort to train a “moderate” force to take on Islamic State.

Russian Federation is accusing the USA of hijacking preparatory talks for a weekend meeting focused on ending the Syrian war, while US officials are expressing surprise that Moscow did not show up for the meetings.

Moscow said they are aimed at stopping terrorists in the country, but Western powers have accused Russian Federation of trying to help Assad’s forces and the intervention has further soured already tense relations between the two sides.