U.N. Says Iran Excluded from Geneva II, Syrian Opposition Confirms Participation

Syria's main opposition group confirmed late Monday it would take part in the Geneva II peace talks after the U.N. withdrew an invitation for Iran to also attend.

The Syrian National Coalition in a statement said it "welcomed the decision of the United Nations Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon to withdraw the invitation sent to Iran, given that Iran has not met the conditions of participation in Geneva 2 conference."

It said it therefore "confirms its participation" in the talks which it said aimed to achieve "a political transition." The opposition group's steadfast stance is that Syrian President Bashar Assad must quit power.

The United Nations earlier on Monday canceled Iran's invitation to attend a Syria peace conference this week on account of its refusal to back calls for a transitional government in Syria.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is "deeply disappointed" at Iran's statements rejecting a 2012 communique adopted by international powers on ending the Syria war.

"Given that it has chosen to remain outside that basic understanding, he has decided that the one-day Montreux gathering will proceed without Iran's participation," Nesirky said at a press briefing.

Ban issued a surprise invitation on Sunday for Iran to attend the start of the Syria peace conference in the Swiss town on Wednesday.

But the Syrian opposition threatened to withdraw from talks if Iran was present and the United States had demanded the invitation be retracted if Iran did not accept the communique, which called for a transitional government.

Just before the U.N. announcement, Iran's U.N. envoy Mohammad Khazaee reaffirmed his government's rejection of the communique adopted in Geneva in June 2012.

"Iran has always been supportive of finding a political solution for this crisis," Khazaee said in a statement.

"However the Islamic Republic of Iran does not accept any preconditions for its participation in Geneva II conference.

"If the participation of Iran is conditioned to accept Geneva I communique, Iran will not participate in Geneva II," he said.

Meanwhile, the biggest bloc in Syria's opposition-in-exile, the Syrian National Council, said late Monday it was quitting the umbrella Syrian National Coalition in protest over the Geneva II peace talks with the Damascus regime.

The group said taking part in the talks would renege on its "commitments" to not enter negotiations until Assad left power.

The deeply divided Coalition, an umbrella of myriad opposition groups, had only decided on Saturday after heated debate to attend the conference.

Ban's spokesman said earlier he was "dismayed" by Iran's refusal to back the resolutions of Geneva I and the Syrian opposition's threat to boycott the talks.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Ban was in contact with the U.S. and Russian foreign ministers over the mounting storm just two days ahead of the start of the peace conference in the Swiss town of Montreux.

"Iran, despite assurances provided orally to the secretary general, has made a disappointing public statement that suggests Iran does not accept" a statement agreed by the major powers in 2012 as the basis for the peace conference.

The Geneva declaration of June 30, 2012 calls for the creation of a transitional governing body in Syria with full executive powers.

President Assad, who gets military and financial support from Iran, has, however, rejected any suggestion he should stand down.

The Syrian National Coalition had set Ban a deadline of 1900 GMT to withdraw his invitation to Iran or it would not attend the meeting.

The United States and European powers all demanded Iran "explicitly" support the call for a transitional government.

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said that a public statement by Iran was "a minimum requirement for participation in this peace process."

Britain and France also said Iran must publicly accept the Geneva communique before it takes part.

The U.N. secretary general announced Sunday he had invited Iran to the first day of talks, unleashing a storm of controversy.

Ban had previously joined Russia in calling for Iran's attendance at the peace talks.

"I believe strongly that Iran needs to be part of the solution to the Syrian crisis," Ban said Sunday.

He added that Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had repeatedly assured him in talks at the weekend that Iran would "play a very positive and constructive role" in efforts to end the three year-old civil war.

The United States and Russia, also a key Assad backer, played a key role in persuading the government and opposition to attend the talks.

Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Ban had consulted with the Russian and U.S. governments before issuing the invitation to Iran. "Of course everybody was consulted," Churkin told reporters.

Despite the U.S. protests over the invitation, a senior U.S. official said that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken with Ban at the weekend.

With extra invitations issued at the weekend, 40 countries were to be at the opening of the peace talks on Wednesday. The Syrian government and opposition were then to meet in Geneva from Friday for talks.

Iranian Parliament speaker Ali Larijani explained his country's resistance.

"We were not present at Geneva I, therefore by no means do we accept the Geneva I statement," he told Iran's ISNA news agency.

"A transitional government has two problems: first, it deprives the Syrian people from the right to choose, second, it means letting Syria fall into the hands of terrorists.”