Is there any hope for the Syrian peace talks?

The United Nations' bumbling disinviting of Iran underscores the Keystone Kops quality of Geneva II

Bashar al-Assad
(Image credit: (AP Photo/IRIB TV via APTN))

The long-awaited peace talks between the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels trying to overthrow him starts Wednesday in Switzerland. Hopes aren't terribly high for the first face-to-face meeting between the two warring sides in the nearly three-year-old civil war. Indeed, the entire conference almost fell apart this week, after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon invited Iran to participate.

Late Sunday, Ban extended the invitation for Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to attend the meeting, saying Tehran had agreed to play "a positive and constructive role." Ban suggested that Iran had signed off on the goal of the conference: that Syria switch to a transitional government of "mutual consent" by the Assad regime and opposition forces.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.