UNITED NATIONS (Dispatches) -- French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he wanted to play a mediation role between Iran and the United States to ensure that Tehran was involved in finding a political solution in Syria.
"If we don’t resolve the Syrian problem with Iran around the table, then we will not have an efficient response because Iran today is among the powers that have an influence on the ground,” Macron told a news conference.
Paris is trying to set up an international contact group on Syria to revive stalled peace talks in Geneva, but the United States has adopted a staunchly anti-Iran stance since President Donald Trump took power, complicating peace talks between major powers.
"Noting the U.S. refusal today, I want that the contact group advances and that the United Nations and France can serve as intermediaries with Iran,” Macron said.
Since January, Iran, along with Russia and Turkey, has been mediating a peace process between the Syrian government and the opposition in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
The Astana negotiations were launched after Russia and Turkey helped broker a nationwide ceasefire between Syria’s warring sides in a process supported by Tehran.
The latest round of the talks in Astana saw the signing of a document on the boundaries of a fourth de-escalation zone. Iran and Russia, Damascus’ allies in the negotiations, and Turkey, which backs several militant groups, had already agreed on three such safe zones in the previous rounds.
A parallel peace process is also underway under the auspices of the United Nations in the Swiss city of Geneva.