MOSCOW. June 7 (Interfax) - Iran's participation in a Moscow-proposed conference on the domestic conflict in Syria would be crucial, the Russian Foreign Ministry's chief spokesman argued on Thursday.
"I propose taking one more look at the set of principles that is being proposed by Russia. Iran is a very important element of any settlement efforts in the region. Therefore, it is our lasting impression that that country can't be shut out - nor can, for that matter, a whole number of other countries in the region," Alexander Lukashevich said at a briefing in Moscow in answering a question from Interfax.
"The idea that has been put forward by the minister [Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov] and that we are actively discussing with our partners will, we hope, be considered today during consultations in the [UN] Security Council and at the session of the [UN] General Assembly with the participation of [UN and Arab League] Special Envoy Kofi Annan and the [UN] secretary general. Let's wait for the results of all these discussions," Lukashevich said.
Lavrov came up with the on Wednesday.
"We should think it would be necessary to call a meeting of states that have real influence with various opposition groups in Syria. There aren't too many of them: they are all the permanent members of the UN Security Council, the leading countries of the region, Turkey, and Iran, the Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation should probably not be forgotten either. I think the European Union would be able to make its contribution as well," the minister said, speaking in Beijing.
He said such a conference would differ from meetings of the "Friends of Syria" in the sense that "all the external players, excluding the Syrians, would initially reach an agreement to put into practice Kofi Annan's plan in an honest way and without double standards."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded on Thursday that the United States would agree to such a conference on condition that Russia accepts Western demands that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down.
"To be honest," said Lukashevich, I haven't heard of or seen this condition about the stepdown of the Syrian president."