TEHRAN – Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said on Wednesday that Washington will not attend the Syrian peace talks due to an objection by Iran, ISNA reported.

The peace talks on the Syria conflict are planned to be held on January 23 in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, where representatives from the Syrian government and opposition groups will meet to resolve the conflict.

Washington, which had led failed efforts to bring an end to the war that has killed more than 310,000 people, has not been involved in the latest rounds of talks.

Shamkhani said there is no reason to involve the U.S. in the peace talks, and entirely ruled out Washington’s direct role in the political initiative.

He pointed to Iran’s active role in supporting the Syrian government to fight terrorism, saying “Tehran would play a major role in the Astana talks as well.”

The talks will be mediated by Russia, Turkey and Iran, after the three countries paved the way to a deal last month, enabling the evacuation of civilians and militants out of the northwestern city of Aleppo as it was being liberated by the Syrian Army.

The senior official also said in addition to the UN representative, only those armed groups that had agreed to the ceasefire and were committed to it were invited to attend the negotiations.

Also, Ali Akbar Velayati, the senior foreign policy advisor to the Leader, said separately on Wednesday that Iran strongly opposes America’s presence in the Astana talks.

“Iran’s stance is against the presence of those who still act against the Syrian government,” said Velayati, referring to the U.S.

The Americans cannot “interfere” in the peace talks on the one hand, and dispatching terrorists into Syrian and arming them on the other hand, he noted.

The top official went on to say, “We were told that the Americans will have a supervisory role in the talks, whereas we do not consent to their presence in the Astana negotiations whether it be supervisory or they be an active party.”

This came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday he thought it was right to invite the upcoming administration of Donald Trump to the peace talks.

Speaking separately on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the ceasefire in Syria was "the first step" taken by Iran, Russia, and Turkey in the crisis settlement process.

"What we need to do at the international level is to help the Syrians reach the stage of starting to talk to each other and I believe the first step has been taken by Iran, Russia and Turkey in bringing about a cessation of hostilities," Sputnik news quoted Zarif as saying at the Davos forum.

President Hassan Rouhani, at a news conference on Tuesday, pointed to the role that the United States and Saudi Arabia would play in Syria, saying, “Some countries are not attending the talks, [because] their role was destructive.”

“They were helping the terrorists,” he added.

MH/PA