Iran pushes for Syrian constitutional committee, political settlement process
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen will meet with representatives from Russia, Iran and Turkey in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, today for the next round of talks on Syria.
The primary goal of today’s summit will be to finalise a committee to draft the country’s new constitution and launch a political settlement process.
Iran, the primary backer of the plan, will play a central role in today’s discussions and gain the most should the others agree to sign on to the committee. Tehran has been pushing for Idlib to be returned to Syrian government control. In doing so, Iran sees the possibility of preventing Turkey from expanding its presence in Syria while also minimising American influence in the conflict.
If Turkey signs on to Iran’s vision of the political process moving forward in Syria, expect important military and political developments in the near future, such as a buffer zone around Idlib or a bid to disarm terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which currently controls the region. At the very least, today’s talks will likely lead to agreement on the general composition of the constitutional committee and the main principles governing its work.
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