Deputy Foreign Minister Bogdanov, Iranian ambassador mull inter-Syrian dialogue
MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and presidential envoy to the Middle East Mikhail Bogdanov met the Iranian ambassador Mehdi Sanaei on Wednesday.
"The situation in the Middle East and North Africa was discussed with an emphasis on the state of affairs in Syria. The need to speedily stop bloodshed and the suffering of the Syrian people through launching a broad inter-Syrian dialogue along the lines of convening Geneva II international conference was stressed," the Foreign Ministry website reports.
The meeting was held at the request of Sanaei.
Geneva II international conference on Syria is due on January 22.
The participation of Iran in the conference remains the stumbling block. Russia insists that Iran be invited. UN/Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi supports the approach.
Meanwhile, the United States conditions Iran's participation in Geneva II by public support for the communique adopted at the first conference on Syria in Geneva last summer. The document provides for launching a transitional process and the formation of a transitional governing body in Syria. Tehran says it is ready to take part in Geneva II but without any preliminary conditions.