International talks on the Syrian crisis are to resume within two weeks after a first round in Vienna on Friday was overshadowed by mass casualties in a government attack on an opposition-held area near Damascus. UN efforts are to concentrate on implementing a country-wide ceasefire.



Tensions between Iran, a staunch supporter of President Bashar al-Assad, and its rival Saudi Arabia, which insists Assad must step down or face military defeat, were evident at the meeting. Crucially but predictably, no agreement was reached on Assad’s fate, so agreement to continue discussions was probably the best possible outcome.

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, accentuated the positive after the seven-hour meeting in the Austrian capital: “The US position is that there is no way that Assad can unite and govern Syria, but we cannot allow that difference to get in the way of diplomacy to find a solution.”

Kerry referred to the announced deployment of US special forces in Syria as part of a “two-pronged” approach. “We are intensifying our counter-Daesh [Isis] campaign and intensifying our diplomatic efforts to end the conflict,” he said. “We believe these steps are mutually reinforcing.”

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said Moscow was determined to fight terrorism in accordance with international law.

Aftermath of missile strike on Damascus suburb. Guardian

A stark reminder of the urgency of the situation came as a barrage of missiles hit Douma, near the capital, killing at least 40 people and wounding about 100, according to activists.

The Vienna talks, involving 17 countries, were the broadest forum yet dealing with the four-and-half year war, which is recognised by the UN as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 250,000 people dead and 11 million displaced. But neither the Syrian government nor the anti-Assad opposition attended.

The principal novelty was the attendance of Iran, despite strong prior opposition by Saudi Arabia. The Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, insisted in a BBC interview that Assad would have to leave office, even if he remained in power for a transitional period. At the tight U-shaped table in the conference room of Vienna’s grand Imperial Hotel, Jubeir pointedly sat almost as far from his Iranian counterpart, Moham­mad Javad Zarif, as was possible.

Iran, Assad’s closest ally, signalled that it favoured a six-month transition period in Syria followed by elections to decide Assad’s fate. Until now, it has always refused to adopt the 2012 Geneva conference principle which implies rather than spells out that the president will eventually have to go. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, told the Guardian last week: “We are not working for Assad to stay in power forever as president.”

Kerry described the talks as the beginning of a new diplomatic process, not “the final chapter”, but added: “Every stakeholder was represented in terms of all the countries supporting one side or another in the conflict.”

The US and Britain have indicated in recent weeks that they too would consider a six-month transition period, so there could be a narrowing of gaps. The UK foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said the talks were at an “exploratory” stage. He called the meeting an effort “to see if there is any scope for bridging the gap that exists between the Russian-Iranian position on the one hand and most of the rest of the countries represented on the other”.



The French foreign minister, Laur­ent Fabius, said a priority was to “fight more effectively against the terrorists” of Islamic State and al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front. “Then it is necessary to organise the political transition,” he added. “Mr Assad, who is responsible for a large part of the Syrian tragedy, cannot be considered the future­ of Syria.”

The Russian deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said Moscow wanted the Syrian opposition to agree to a common approach and the makeup of a delegation for talks with Damascus.



Participants described the talks as frank and intense, with only short toilet breaks. “Nobody walked out,” said one. “The communique was quite specific at the start of the day but got more general as the day went on. The Iranians and Saudis both spoke a lot. The fact that they came and are coming back again is good news.”

Opposition activists demonstrated outside the hotel before being moved on by police.

Following up the landmark nuclear deal reached in July, Kerry met Zarif for bilateral talks on Thursday evening while the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey – the main supporters of the anti-Assad rebels – also conferred separately.

“We found enough common ground to start a UN-led political process,” said Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign policy chief, describing a “constructive atmosphere”.

Also participating was the UN’s latest Syrian envoy, Staffan de Mistura, who has so far got no further than his two predecessors who were tasked with what has been dubbed a diplomatic mission impossible. “No one disagreed fundamentally on major issues,” he said, calling the forum a “contact group” – an idea the UN has been pushing for.

“The point being made by the Americans is that you are applying both diplomatic pressure and military pressure against extremists whether they are Isis or Assad and that you cannot do just one or the other,” said a European official. “This was a very deliberate announcement with very deliberate timing.”