The Latest from Iran (29 August): Side-Stepping Syria at the Summit

0640 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). Despite the admission by the Iranian Foreign Minister that the Islamic Republic will not get a boost to its Syrian strategy through the Non-Aligned Summit (see 0620 GMT), Press TV keeps beating the drum:

Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa says it is a 'clear mistake' to exclude Iran from international efforts to end the crisis in Syria.

“Some countries' refusal to engage with Iran on efforts to settle Syria's crisis on the pretext that Iran is part of the problem is a clear political mistake,”

0620 GMT: Ignored by Iranian State media's wall-to-wall cheerleading for the Non-Aligned Summit in Tehran, and buried in an article by one of the few US correspondents at the gathering, is this significant revelation from Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi:

Other than a few bland paragraphs in the confrence resolution calling for peace in Iran’s ally, the conflict won’t be addressed by the Non-Aligned Movement, he said. “There may be some sideline talks with like-minded countries and with countries that would wish to take some part in expediting the peaceful resolution of the Syrian crisis, avoiding any external interference in the internal affairs of Syria,” he said. “Let the case be resolved through Syrian-Syrian dialogue.”

With those sentences, Salehi effectively admitted that, for all the Islamic Republic's assertion of "leadership" this week, it will not be able to use the Summit to seize the initiative over the Syrian crisis. Instead, the Islamic Republic is just hoping to get a place at the diplomatic table.

That strategy gives the visit of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi --- already hailed by Iran as testimony to its international prominence and the success of its regional strategy --- even more importance. Morsi went to the front on Syria last week, proposing a new diplomatic approach that included Tehran, and Turkey gave the initiative substance by putting it forward this weekend.

I suspect Tehran will be disappointed if it expects Morsi to headline the move while he is at the Summit --- the President, if he stays beyond the few hours predicted by Egyptian media, is more likely to speak in general platitudes. If I am wrong, however, Iran will finally have gotten something beyond short-term promotion from this week's summit.

from EA WorldView: EA Iran

Posted via email from lissping