Iran's foreign minister said on Tuesday Tehran opposed a U.S. presence at peace talks on Syria in the Kazakh capital next week, after a decision by Russia and Turkey to invite Washington. The United States, which led failed efforts to launch peace talks last year, has not been involved in the latest diplomacy around the Syrian conflict. Asked why the United States and Saudi Arabia had no direct role in the talks, Rouhani said: "Some countries are not attending the talks, and their role was destructive. Russia and Iran, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's most powerful allies, and Turkey, pushed for the talks in Astana after Syrian government forces won a major victory in capturing eastern Aleppo late last year. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday that Turkey and Russia had decided to invite the United States to the Astana discussions, which begin on January 23.

Source: Egypt Independent January 18, 2017 13:47 UTC