The Syria war and the Iranian nuclear standoff dominate the international agenda, with an urgent need to find a viable solution. The visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi to Damascus and Amman last week revealed that Iran too is giving Syria priority. Salehi met with King Abdullah II of Jordan on May 7 en route to Damascus for meetings with officials there, including President Bashar al-Assad, emphasizing the need for national “Syrian-Syrian” talks to bring an end to the civil war ravaging the Muslim country. Simultaneously, the US Secretary of State John Kerry, looking to put an end to Russian support for Assad in Syria, was met with a cool reception in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin kept Kerry waiting three hours before their meeting at the Kremlin and continuously fiddled with his pen as the top US diplomat spoke about the ongoing crisis in Syria.
“Five Reasons the US Should Stay Out Of Syria,” Hossein Mousavian, Al-Monitor, May 10, 2013.
