Russia, Turkey represent Iran’s interests in Syria

Islam Mohamed

Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the Iranian role in the forthcoming Syrian dialogue.   Addressing the closing session of four-way summit held in Astana on Saturday in the absence of Iran, Putin stressed that a proposed dialogue in Syria would not be possible without the Iranian participation. “The Iranians should take part in the formation of the constitutional committee,” the Russian president said. Astana summit was, in addition to Putin, by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to the Iranian official news agency Mehr, the Russian president stressed that without the Iranian participation, it would be impossible to solve the Syrian problem effectively. Putin was quoted by Mehr as saying: “It is known that Iran is one of the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire and de-escalation zones in Syria’.

The Turkish president also said that Iran would be given access to the commitments agreed upon during the Astana summit, which brought face-to-face for the first time Putin and Erdogan in the same room with the two most influential leaders of the European Union—Macron and Merkel.

Observers suggested that  the U.S. and the international community were  behind the absence of the Iranians in Astana summit. Washington and major Arab Gulf states do not want Iran to have any influential role in the Syrian future. According to these observers, Moscow and Ankara were acting as the voice of Teheran during Astana summit. During a three-way summit held in Tehran last month, the three countries formalized a common understanding of the same commitments introduced in Astana.

Dr. Khaled Yaimut, professor of political science at the Mohamed V University in Rabat, said that regardless of its absence in Astana, Iran was represented by Russia and Turkey.  He told The Reference that the Russian-Turkish partnership in Syria also involved Iran.   However, Dr. Yaimut said: “Iran is widely regarded by the international community as part of the Syrian crisis—not the solution.”