Russias foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has made clear that Iran should not be excluded from an international conference on Syria putting it on a collision course with the US over the stalled peace process.
A conference, which some have likened to the Dayton accords that put an end to the three year long civil war in Bosnia in 1995, may be held later this month.
We want this event to be effective. In order to be effective all the sides with any influence on the sides in the Syrian conflicts should be represented there. Iran is one such country, Mr Lavrov said.
Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, appeared to reject a role for Iran earlier this week, when she said: It's a little hard to imagine inviting a country that is stage-managing Assad regimes assault on its people.
Iran is a key Russian ally in the Mideast and is one of the principal backers of Bashar al Assad, Syrian president. Mr Lavrov said that the Russian general idea of holding a conference was not rejected by the US side during talks on Friday with Mrs Clintons special adviser on Syria Fred Hof.
According to one senior foreign policy figure who requested anonymity, such a conference could be held as early as late June following a planned meeting between US President and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Mexico next weekend. The tentative location, he said, would be Geneva.
Both the US and Russia agree that the peace plan negotiated by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, which has been in effect since April, has had little result. No ceasefire has been observed and Syrian paramilitaries and army continue to attack civilians, according to western governments.
Mr Lavrov spoke after reports that 17 people had been killed by shelling in the Syrian town of Deraa, where the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted 15 months ago.
Russia however, lays the majority of the blame for the fighting on the Syrian opposition, which it blamed for a recent massacre in the town of Houla that left over 100 dead.
Mr Lavrov sounded one or two conciliatory notes during a Saturday press conference in Moscow following Mr Hofs trip. He said that Russia would sign no new contracts for the supply of weapons with the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Syrian president, and that Russias weapons supplies were only in fulfilment of existing contracts, according to Interfax news agency.
However, he dashed rumours that Russia has begun to loosen its support of Mr Assad and might even be willing to facilitate his removal from power as part of a revised peace plan. The Annan plan, he admitted was stalled, but said there was no alternative.
Russia has long argued that Mr Assads exit could only come at the end of a peace process, according to the will of the Syrian people rather than as a precondition.
Russia insists on Iran role over Syria - FT.com