Iran will attend Syrian peace talks this week in Switzerland but without preconditions, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said on Monday. “Based on the official invitation, Iran will participate in this conference without any preconditions,” Afkham was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sparked a furore on Sunday by inviting Iran to the so-called Geneva II peace 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. Iran is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.