DAMASCUS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The UN on Monday invited Iran to attend the upcoming Geneva II conference that aims to resolve the crisis in Syria, a move deemed by analysts as raising a prospect of success for the long-awaited talks.
The Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran's parliament, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said the UN' s invitation to Iran shows "they have realized that the event will be a non-starter without Iran's presence."
The Western powers have been reluctant about Iran's participation in the Geneva II talks on Syrian crisis, and the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), the main opposition umbrella in exile, has also suspended its decision to participate in the conference, urging the UN to cancel its invitation to Tehran.
The Western powers rejected Iran's participation due to Tehran' s supportive stance toward the Syrian government. Following the UN 's invitation, some Western officials said Iran must explicitly announce its acceptance to the formation of a transitional government in Syria ahead of its attendance.
However, the Persian country said it will participate without accepting any preconditions to its attendance.
Despite the murky situation surrounding the talks, which will bring the Syrian government and opposition to the negotiating table for the first time since the eruption of the Syrian crisis in 2011, analysts said that Iran's participation in the conference, slated to open on Jan. 22, is "important" and the SNC's reaction is no more than a "political maneuver."
Hussam Shuaib, a Syrian political analyst, said Iran's attendance is crucial because "it's part of the solution to issues in the region, including in the Syrian crisis."
He said the SNC "can't ... decide on or reject Iran's attendance to the conference because the UN has already sent its invitation and Iran has accepted it."
Shuaib also said that holding the conference is the beginning of a political solution to the Syrian crisis, whether the meeting itself fails or succeeds.
"The Syrian people hope the conference would succeed but whether the conference succeeds or fails, it doesn't mean the end of the solution to the Syria's crisis but the beginning of it," Shuaib said.
For his part, Essam Hilali, an Iranian journalist and political expert, told Xinhua: "The invitation that has been sent to Iran will surely raise the odds of success for the Geneva II conference, even though the road for the solution is still long."
He said Iran's role is crucial in the region and in the Syrian crisis in particular.
Talking about the SNC's rejection to Iran's attendance, Hilali said the SNC's suspension of its participation is part of "their political maneuver and the coalition will eventually attend the conference."
"I am personally optimistic about the Geneva II conference because I think that is the first step in this long road. So there must be a solution to the serious crisis in Syria and all concerned parties must join the conference to lay out a solution and put an end to the tragic situation in Syria."
The goal of Geneva II is to achieve a political solution to the Syrian conflict through a comprehensive agreement between the government and the opposition on the full implementation of the Geneva communique, adopted after the Geneva I conference on Jan. 30, 2012.
The communique, which has been endorsed by the UN Security Council, lays out key steps to end the violence in Syria.
Hurdles still lie ahead for the conflict to end as the Syrian government wants the Geneva II to focus on combating terrorism while the opposition wants it to result in the formation of a transitional government where Syrian President Bashar al-Assad plays no role.
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