Lakhdar Brahimi says the UN “would like” Iran to attend the next Geneva conference on the crisis in Syria

UN-Arab League Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi says the United Nations “would like” Iran to attend the next Geneva conference on the crisis in Syria.

“The United Nations have made it very clear that we would like all countries… with interests and/or influence (to) attend Geneva, and that includes Iran,” Brahimi told reporters in Washington on Monday, AFP reports.

The international envoy said that he was pressing on with plans to hold the second conference in Geneva to address the conflict in Syria.

“There are still issues that have not been solved. We are hopeful. That’s all we can say.”

Brahimi, however, did not give any exact date for the conference, which had been initially planned to be held late May, but was postponed.

Russia and the United States had agreed in Moscow on May 7 to convene the international conference, which will serve as a follow-up to an earlier Geneva meeting held in June 2012.

There are speculations that the conference might be held in September.

Iran has repeatedly expressed its opposition to any foreign intervention in the internal affairs of Syria, stressing that inclusive dialogue and national reconciliation as well as free elections are the keys to resolving the turmoil in Syria.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi had earlier said that the Geneva meeting on Syria will be successful if it is “all-inclusive and involves all countries that can play a constructive role to reach a political approach” in resolving the unrest in Syria.

Brahimi also commented on the debate in Washington over arming the foreign-backed Takfiri militants in Syria, and said, “Arms do not make peace. We would like to see the delivery of arms stopped to all sides.”

The unrest in Syria erupted over two years ago and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.