Is Iran the United States' new best friend in the Middle East?
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Iran denounced the US suggestion that it play a role on the sidelines of the second United Nations Syria peace conference this month because the minimal role 鈥�,鈥� a foreign ministry spokeswoman said Monday.
But with skyrocketing sectarian violence throughout the region, particularly in Syria and Iraq, and the US beginning to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan,听Iran鈥檚 active involvement in the , The New York Times reports, describing Iran as an "island of stability."
The Geneva II conference is set to begin Jan. 22, and will include more than 20 countries invited by the UN as well as representatives from Syria鈥檚 opposition. The UN special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, supports Iran鈥檚 participation in the Syrian peace process, and on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tehran could 鈥減articipate very easily鈥� in the talks if they accept that the Assad regime must be replaced by a transitional government.
"If Iran doesn't support that, it's difficult to see how they are going to be a ministerial partner in the process," Mr. Kerry said, noting that there are ways they could 鈥渃onceivably鈥� contribute from the sidelines.
Despite warming ties between Washington and Tehran in recent months 鈥� most notably with the November agreement to temporarily freeze Iran鈥檚 nuclear development 鈥� the two nations have been on opposite ends of the Syria fight. Over the course of the three-year conflict in Syria which has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people and displaced millions more, Iran has provided military assistance and manpower to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. According to 海角大神:
Since its 1979 Islamic revolution,听Iran has used Syria as a conduit for weapons, cash, and support for the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah,听and later聽Hamas and Islamic Jihad,听all of which form a frontline against Israel. If Assad falls, Iran could lose that channel.聽
Reuters reports that the US State Department spokesman said that for Iran to have a role in the Syria peace talks, 鈥� would do things that would be less destructive in Syria."
The New York Times reports that while the US and Iran 鈥渜uietly continue to pursue their often conflicting interests, they are being drawn together by their mutual opposition to an international movement of young Sunni fighters, who with their pickup trucks and Kalashnikovs are raising the black flag of Al Qaeda along sectarian fault lines in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen.鈥� On Monday, Iran offered to join the US in sending military aid to the Iraqi government, which is engaged in a fierce struggle to oust Sunni militants from Iraq's Anbar province.聽
With Iran as an island of stability in a region plagued by violent protests, sectarian clashes and suicide bombers, there are not that many options left for Washington, experts here say.
鈥淲e face the same enemy, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend,鈥� said Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, a prominent Iranian reformist journalist who closely follows the Arab world. He recalled how Iranian intelligence operatives gave reliable information to American Special Forces troops battling Iran鈥檚 enemy, the Afghan Taliban, in 2001.
While the Obama administration acknowledges that Iran has the potential to be an influential player on regional issues from Afghanistan to Syria, senior officials have said they are keeping their focus tightly on the nuclear negotiations. Cooperation on any other issues, they said, hinges largely on coming to terms on Iran鈥檚 nuclear program.
On Monday, an unnamed senior State Department official told reporters that 鈥淭here are ... steps that Iran could take to show the international community that they are serious about playing a positive role [in Syria]."
"Those include calling for an end to the bombardment by the Syrian regime of their own people. It includes calling for and encouraging humanitarian access." The official told Reuters that Iran hadn鈥檛 shown any evidence of taking these types of steps.
鈥淭he Americans are confessing Iran stands for peace and stability in this region,鈥� Hamid Reza Tarraghi, a hard-line political analyst told The New York Times. 鈥淏ut when they invite us for a conference on Syria we are 鈥榓llowed鈥� to be present on the 鈥榮idelines.鈥� This is insulting.鈥�
