It is often said when referring to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that the United States cannot want peace more than the parties themselves. Let us hope that this is not the case with Syria, where, according to the United Nations, more than 70,000 people have been killed, more than 1.5 million have become registered refugees, and 8.3 million are in need of assistance.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov continued to labor to convene an international conference based on the Action Group for Syria Final Communiqué (or Geneva Communiqué) of June 30, 2012, but have not yet sealed a deal.

The National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces met May 24–27 in Istanbul but adjourned without reaching a decision on whether to attend the Geneva II conference. The Coalition, as the umbrella organization is known, remains deeply divided. The Qatar-backed faction and the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood carry the most sway. Also failing in Istanbul was an attempt to expand the opposition leadership to include a slate of more secular figures, led by Michel Kilo, a longtime advocate of democratic reform who had been imprisoned by the Syrian government (most recently from 2006 to 2009). Qatar’s allies and the Brotherhood have sought to block more independent leadership, such as Kilo and outgoing Coalition president Moaz al-Khatib, who are also more receptive to a negotiated political solution to the crisis.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad at a press conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on May 26, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, said, “The Syrian government believes in all good faith that the international conference constitutes a favorable opportunity for a political solution to the crisis in Syria.” A few days earlier, on May 24, Mohammad Khazaee, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview, “Iran welcomes the convening of Geneva II.”