Iran nuke deal has positive impacts on Syrian crisis

DAMASCUS -- Iran's nuclear deal reached on Sunday may have positive impacts on the efforts to secure an agreement on a political solution to the Syrian crisis at the planned Geneva II conference, analysts said.

The date for the long-awaited conference, which aims to bring the Syrian government and the opposition to the negotiation table, is set on January 22, 2014, the United Nations announced Monday, one day after the Iran deal was reached.

Some observers said that the Iran deal may contribute to a possible international consensus on how to resolve the Syrian crisis.

The Iran deal has had a positive impact on the situation here as it marks a success of political negotiations in solving tough regional issues, Hamidi Abdullah, a Syrian political analyst, told Xinhua.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Iran agreement may be useful for preparing the Geneva II conference.

"In addition to the multiple positive aspects of this agreement, I hope it will have a useful impact on the currently underway efforts to solve the Syrian problem," Lavrov said.

Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League joint special envoy, said Monday that the Geneva II conference will begin without preconditions, adding that he will ask the Syrian government and the opposition to name their delegations to the conference as soon as possible.

"After hearing the news yesterday about Iran's deal with the Western powers, I knew that placing a date for the Geneva II conference would be next," Maher Murher, head of the Youth Party, told Xinhua Monday.

Setting a date for the conference wasn't surprising, which followed the dismantling of Syria's chemical weapons and then the clinching of the Iran nuclear deal, he said.

"The international consensus has been reached and now the focus would be on the details among Syrians," he said.

Analysts said that an agreement on the Syrian crisis will put an end to the flow of terrorists, weapons and money into Syria.

Esam Khalil, a Syrian lawmaker, stressed that the Syrian crisis has never been a domestic issue, but an international one widely linked to other regional issues.

He, however, was skeptical that the Iran deal would have positive effects on the Syrian crisis, attributing his pessimism to the non-stop support for the rebels and al-Qaida-linked groups from regional players.

Others believe the Iran deal is conducive to opening up discussions, dialogues and communication between all external parties which are active and influential in the course of the Syrian crisis.