Ankara not in favor of Zarif's new Syria plan

With Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Javad Zarif continuing on his visit through capital cities in the region to promote the new Iranian peace plan for Syria, diplomatic sources hinted that Ankara is not leaning toward to it. After reaching a nuclear agreement with world powers, Iran has increased its efforts for a new peace plan in Syria to save their ally, Syrian President Bassar Assad, who caused the five-year civil war and whose forces have killed more than 300,000 people. Last week Zarif visited Lebanon and met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who is another key backer of the Assad regime. Zarif then moved on to Damascus, where he met Assad on Wednesday. Zarif will meet with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov on Monday in Moscow to discuss peace efforts in Syria. Even though details of Zarif's new plan are not yet known, diplomatic sources believe that he will propose Ankara accept a series of proposals that include a withdrawal of Hezbollah militants and keeping Assad as the head of state. However, Ankara considers Assad the main source of instability in the region and seems to not favor Zarif's new plan for Syria. Assad currently controls 15 percent of Syria, and from Ankara's perspective it is impossible to bring peace to Syria with a plan that insists on keeping Assad in power, claiming he lost legitimacy long ago. Instead, Ankara is interested in a speedy political settlement in Syria on the basis of the Geneva Communique and favor of a plan that aims to build a comprehensive transitional government that includes representatives from the Baathist regime and Syrian opposition forces.