Radio France Internationale quotes Middle East Strategy Task Force Deputy Director Jessica Ashooh on the significance of Iran’s invitation to join the international community in seeking a political solution to the war in Syria:
Iran was needed at the table and finally got an invitation “probably because the conflict has just escalated to an unsustainable level in the past months. With the Russian entry on the ground, things are really getting dangerous,” Jessica Ashooh, the Deputy Director of the Middle East Strategy Task Force of the Atlantic Council told RFI.
“Of course they were always dangerous but the internationalisation of the conflict is just unsustainable and I think that a lot of people have decided that it was time to get to another round of talks. It is a major turnover because at previous peace talks, such as the Geneva 2 peace talks, Iran wasn’t there because the Syrian opposition refused to come to the talks if Iran was there. They viewed Iran as a party to the conflict and not a constructive player.”