Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Associated Press
BEIRUT
Within 24 hours of an interim deal aimed at reining in Iran’s nuclear program, world powers raised hopes Monday for the first face-to-face talks to end the Syrian civil war as the United Nations called the warring parties to the table.
But huge gaps remain. The opposition remains vague on whether it even will attend the Geneva conference called for Jan. 22, and both sides hold fundamentally different visions on the very basics, particularly the future role of President Bashar Assad.
Nevertheless, Monday’s announcement of a date for the talks after months of delay produced palpable hope that the precedent of successful nuclear negotiations with Iran might open new diplomatic channels that could help broker an end to the nearly 3-year-old civil war in Syria that has killed more than 100,000 people.
The nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers was announced in Geneva on Sunday. Success in negotiations on a final accord could pave the way for normalization of ties between Iran and the West, reshaping the Mideast political map.