Saudi Gazette report RIYADH – Saudi Arabia on Monday rejected Iran's participation in the Geneva II peace talks unless Tehran backs efforts for a transitional government in the war-torn country. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), an official source reiterated the Kingdom's position that it would abide by the decisions of the majority of countries with regard to Syria talks. “Invitation to any party to attend the Geneva conference must be linked with an explicit agreement of the conditions set for the invitation. “This means that (each party) must officially and openly proclaim that these conditions – the foremost of which is setting up of a transitional government – are acceptable to it. However, Iran did not announce such a position, and this renders Iran ineligible to attend the talks,” the source said in the statement. The source also noted that Iran's military forces are fighting along side the Syrian regime forces. The Kingdom reiterated its firm position in supporting the Syrian people to achieve their legitimate goals of independence and national unity. “The Kingdom's call for peace did not receive any response, so Riyadh supported the initiative to convene the Geneva II talks on the basis of the fact that the main task of the conference is to implement the decisions of the first Geneva talks,” the source added. Syrian peace talks in Switzerland hit a major hurdle on Monday after a UN invite to Iran sparked a boycott call from the opposition. With two days to go to negotiations more than a year in the making, UN chief Ban Ki-moon sparked a furor on Sunday by inviting Iran – a key backer of Assad – to take up a seat. Syria's main opposition group promptly said it would shun the talks, due to kick off in Montreux before moving to Geneva. Louay Safi, spokesman for the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), announced on Twitter that the opposition would stay away “unless Ban Ki-moon retracts Iran's invitation”. Washington, London and Paris reacted immediately, saying Iran would have to clearly and publicly support the idea of a Syrian transitional government if it wanted to attend. Western powers have so far opposed Iran's presence on the grounds that Tehran had not accepted an initial communique adopted by major powers in Geneva in June 2012 calling for the creation of an interim government. The accord at the so-called Geneva I talks made no mention of Assad's departure, something that the Syrian opposition says is non-negotiable. To add to the confusion, Russia – another Assad ally – said Tehran's absence from the conference would be a “unforgivable mistake.” Moscow along with Washington has been one of the main backers of the new round of talks. Ban's invitation came after Tehran vowed to play a “very positive and constructive role” in efforts to end Syria's worsening three-year civil war that the UN says has claimed well over 100,000 lives. Making the announcement after two days of intense talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Ban said both Zarif and he had agreed “that the goal of the negotiations is to establish, by mutual consent, a transitional governing body with full executive powers.” “I believe strongly that Iran needs to be part of the solution to the Syrian crisis,” he said. But Ban's assurances failed to pacify major Western powers concerned over Iran's deployment of military personnel in Syria and its support for Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, which has sent fighters to back up Assad's troops. “The United States views the UN secretary-general's invitation to Iran to attend the upcoming Geneva conference as conditioned on Iran's explicit and public support for the full implementation of the Geneva communique,” US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. “This is something Iran has never done publicly and something we have long made clear is required.” – With agencies
