Iranian state media reported that UN-Arab league envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will visit Teheran next week to prepare for a proposed peace conference on Syria. AFP reports that the conference could be held in Geneva next month.
In another report, Mehr news agency quoted Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Hussain Amir Abdollahian, as saying Brahimi would “travel to Tehran early next week and visit Iranian officials”.
Brahimi is undertaking a tour of the Middle East to garner support for the Syrian peace initiative. The first stop on his tour is Egypt, after which he will travel to Qatar, Turkey, Iran and Syria. Finally, he will stop at Geneva to conduct talks with US and Russian representatives.
The Geneva II peace conference was scheduled last year, but has been repeatedly postponed due to infighting within the Syrian opposition, and deciding which countries (including Iran) should participate.
Over 115,000 people have died in the Syrian uprising. The United Nations estimates that one of every three Syrians is in need of urgent humanitarian aid.
