France against Iran joining Syria talks

Reuters/Abu Dhabi

France’s foreign minister yesterday ruled out Iran taking part in a proposed Syria peace conference, saying Tehran was involved in the conflict and had no desire for peace.

Laurent Fabius will host Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry at a dinner tomorrow to discuss how to nudge Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian opposition into the talks in Geneva.

Speaking aboard a French aircraft en route to Abu Dhabi, Fabius said there was no “magic wand” to get warring parties to the negotiating table even though it appeared Assad’s government had agreed to attend.

Russia has said Iran must be included in the peace conference, which was jointly proposed by Moscow and Washington and could convene in the next few weeks