Saturday 13 September 2014

Iran’s Participation in Meeting to Aid Iraq Is ‘Not Appropriate,’ Says Kerry

ANKARA, Turkey — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that “it would not be appropriate” for Iran to attend an international conference on the security crisis in Iraq that is to be held in Paris next week because of what he called the role that Iran’s paramilitary Quds Force is playing in the fighting in neighboring Syria.

France is the host of the Monday meeting, which is to coordinate aid to the new Iraqi government for its fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. French officials have left open the possibility that Iran might attend.

But during a visit here to consult with Turkish officials on the international effort against ISIS, Mr. Kerry said he opposed including Iran.

“Under the circumstances, at this moment in time, it would not be right for any number of reasons,” said Mr. Kerry, who noted that the French had not consulted with him on the question.
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“Iran has been deeply involved with its forces on the ground in Syria,” Mr. Kerry said. He also called Iran a “state sponsor of terror in various places.”

In recent weeks, speculation has risen that the fight against ISIS might present an opportunity for the United States and Iran to make common cause against a mutual foe and so improve relations.

An alternative theory is the Obama administration’s fight against ISIS may distract American officials from their effort to negotiate a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear program.

In his remarks, Mr. Kerry indicated that neither theory may be correct and that the Obama administration has opted for a third approach, one in which the United States will continue to negotiate seriously on Iran’s nuclear program even though Washington and Tehran have competing interests in Iraq, Syria and the rest of the Middle East.

Outlining the administration’s Iran policy, Mr. Kerry said the United States would continue to carry out what he called a “deep and serious conversation” with Iranian officials on a possible agreement that would lift economic sanctions in return for serious constraints on Iran’s nuclear program.

At the same time, Mr. Kerry has said, the United States does not plan to coordinate with Iran in the fight against ISIS in Iraq.

And while the White House has authorized the deputy secretary of state, William J. Burns, to discuss regional issues with Iranian officials on the margins of the nuclear talks, Mr. Kerry suggested that Iran needed to curtail its military activities in Syria before a fuller discussion of the situation in Iraq and Syria might be possible.

“I.R.G.C. forces are on the ground,” Mr. Kerry said, using the acronym for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which the United States says is present in Syria.

“These are serious issues, and that’s why they need to be approached in a proper way,” Mr. Kerry said. “Not at a conference like this at this moment, but through a process which we are entirely prepared over a period of time to engage in.”

In a sense, the administration’s approach is a simple concession to Middle East realities. Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states view Iran as their major nemesis and are backing opposing sides in the conflict in Syria.

The United States is seeking Sunni Arab cooperation in its struggle with ISIS, and it is difficult to see how it could fashion a coalition that includes both the Saudis, who have agreed to host training of moderate Syrian rebels, and Iran.

This is not the first time Mr. Kerry has opposed a role for Iran in an international conference.

Earlier this year, he successfully opposed a United Nations move to invite Iran to a peace conference on Syria in Geneva. Western diplomats asserted at the time that if Iran were given a prominent role at that conference, the moderate Syrian opposition and some Sunni Arab states might not attend.

During his visit here, Mr. Kerry pledged $500 million in new aid to help Syrian refugees and civilians displaced within the country. The contribution brings the total amount of American humanitarian assistance since the start of the conflict in March 2011 to nearly $3 billion.

Mr. Kerry met here with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and other senior Turkish officials as part of his effort to mobilize a broad international coalition against ISIS.

ISIS is holding 49 Turkish citizens — government employees and members of their families — in Iraq. And Turkey, which refrained from signing a communiqué calling for a military campaign against ISIS at a meeting in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, has been keeping a low profile in the efforts to coordinate an international response to ISIS.

“Sure, we are treading carefully because of the 49 Turkish hostages in ISIS hands, but what was the West doing while more than 200,000 people were being killed and millions displaced in Syria over the past five years?” said a Turkish official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly. “It’s Turkey that pays the highest price for any action or conflict along its southern borders.”

Mr. Kerry declined to say what role, if any, Turkey might play in the military effort to confront the militant group.

“It is entirely premature and frankly inappropriate at this point in time to start laying out one country by one country what individual nations are going to do,” he said.

Sebnem Arsu and Ceylan Yeginsu contributed reporting from Istanbul.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/world/middleeast/kerry-opposes-irans-inclusion-in-iraq-security-talks.html?_r=0




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