Iran moves to facilitate Turkey-Syria understanding ahead of Astana summit

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif paid an official visit to Turkey on April 17, following his visit to Syria the previous day. Although bilateral issues were a part of the agenda of Zarif’s meetings in both countries, the timing of the trip and the content of his talks in Damascus and Ankara indicated that his diplomatic tour was, more than anything else, related to the international efforts to solve the Syrian crisis.

Zarif’s regional trips come less than 10 days before a new round of Syria peace talks within the framework of the Astana track in which Iran, Turkey and Russia play the leading role. As such, Zarif’s visits to Syria and Turkey have given rise to speculation that the Islamic Republic might be trying to find common ground between the two sides and provide the framework for a breakthrough in the upcoming diplomatic talks. Furthermore, the necessity of finding a peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict was the main mantra repeated by Zarif during all of his meetings in Damascus and Ankara.

A deeper look at Zarif’s remarks during his trips indicates that Tehran’s plan to facilitate and accelerate the Syrian political process has three main pillars.

First and foremost, Iran appears to be dedicating unprecedented efforts to bring about the formation of the “Syrian constitutional committee.” The committee is due to be tasked with drafting a new constitution for Syria. Iran’s principal position since the beginning of the crisis has been that the future of Syria — including its constitution — should be only decided by the Syrian people, denying foreign initiatives for this purpose. However, since mid-2018, this position started to change as a result of the evolving equations in the war-torn country, and the Islamic Republic is now fully supporting the formation of the constitutional committee.