Iran to walk out of Syria talks, if ‘unproductive’

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the local journalist was killed in shelling on the government-held Dahiyat al-Assad neighborhood, which has been frequently targeted by rebel attacks.

In the recent meeting in Vienna, “some countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, played negative and unconstructive roles, as they could not provide a logic for their positions vis-a-vis Syria’s conflicts”, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted on Monday by Iran’s Al-alam satellite TV as saying.

“It was unclear whether the suggestion, carried via state-run news media, was serious or more akin to diplomatic posturing, since Iran would have much to lose if it were to leave talks it has long sought to attend”, the New York Times ventured. “Iran will not participate if the talks are not fruitful”.

He also warned Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir – who survived an assassination plot linked to Iran four years ago – “not to test our patience”.

“Instead of accusation and shifting the blame [on others], the Saudi foreign minister should assume his country’s responsibility in the Mina disaster”, the Iranian official said.

Tehran is strongly opposed to air strikes on Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen by a Saudi-led coalition, while Riyadh accuses Iran of seeking to destabilise countries with large Shiite populations, such as Lebanon and Bahrain. “We have to deal with the future of President Assad, we have to deal with how we will find a political solution”.

A senior officer in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards unit has been killed in Syria, the fourth Iranian commander to die there in the last month, the Fars news agency said Tuesday.

Overall violence in the country has surged since Russian Federation, a top ally of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, began airstrikes around the country on September 30.