Kerry: US, Russia and Iran ‘agree to disagree’ on Assad

VIENNA, Austria – US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday, October 30, said he had “agreed to disagree” with his Iranian and Russian counterparts on the fate of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Kerry said Washington continues to believe Assad leaving power would smooth the path to a deal to end Syria’s civil war and help the fight to defeat the Islamic State group.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Iran’s Mohammad Javad Zarif disagreed, he admitted, but all 3 would continue to work together to pursue a political settlement.

At the same time, Kerry said senior US officials have been discussing deploying special forces in Syria “for months.” He also denied that the operation had been announced to influence talks in Vienna.

“The president has been determined that we are going to increase our efforts against Daesh,” Kerry said, using an Arabic term for the Islamic State jihadist group.

Kerry was in Vienna for talks with 17 powers, including Iran and Russia, on how to bring the civil war in Syria to an end. As the ministers were talking, officials in Washington announced the deployment.

Asked about this at a news conference after the talks, Kerry insisted that the timing of the news was a “coincidence.” Suggesting skepticism, his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov grinned and joked: “We did not plant this question.” – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com