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Iran officially received an invitation for taking part in the Vienna negotiations on Friday about a peace process for a political transition in Syria, and it has accepted it.

Russia and the US have decided to carry out a new round of negotiations for ending the ongoing war in Syria. This time, the negotiations include new actors, such as Iran, which by that means bringing together regional adversaries supporting conflicting groups in Syria.

The negotiations will bring together a dozen of international and regional players including, Russia, the US, Britain, France, Germany, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The multilateral negotiations will be held next Friday in Vienna, with a smaller round of negotiations on Thursday between Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

This will be the first time that Tehran attends international negotiations concerning the Syrian crisis. The importance of Tehran’s presence in the negotiations was urged upon by Russia, and acknowledged by the United States which had recognized that there will be no chance of a political transition in Syria without Tehran’s presence as part of the solution.

There has been a shift in the United States’ position on the Syrian issue, which was signaled on Tuesday in a State Department news conference in Washington. According to AP, “the United States is taking a gamble” in inviting Iran on the negotiations, since Iran has been militarily backing up the government in Syria ever since the crisis broke out.

Quoting The Guardian, “Inviting Iran to take part in talks over Syria’s future is a highly significant shift for the US and its western and Arab allies, and one that will gladden the heart of President Bashar al-Assad. It will be seen as another sign, following Russia’s military intervention that things are going his way.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and three of his deputies will attend the multilateral talks, according to Iranian state news agencies. The former had discussed the issue with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in a phone conversations on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham quoted by semi-official ISNA agency.

On the other side, Saudi Press Agency had reported that President Obama had called King Salman on Tuesday to discuss "bilateral relations," ''the situation of the region" and "developments on the regional and international arenas" according to AP.

"The view of our partners...was that we should test the intentions of the Iranians and the Russians in arriving at a political solution in Syria, which we all prefer," al-Jubeir told a news conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

It has not been clear yet whether an invitation will be sent for the Syrian government or the opposition groups, recalling that neither were present on the last Vienna talks concerning the Syrian crisis.

The 12 players which will be present on Friday are deeply divided over al-Assad’s future. The United States and its allies say Assad can participate in a political transition, but would have to leave power at the end of the process, according to AP. Saudi foreign minister also noted that the kingdom and its allies would hold a separate meeting on Friday to seek "the time and means of Bashar al-Assad's exit", reports Reuters.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, on the other hand, said in an interview with The Guardian last week that “In any political process the role played by Bashar al-Assad will be important,” explaining further that al-Assad will not stay in office forever, but that his presence in office is crucial at this time for “the fight against terrorism and the national unity of that country”

The invitation of Iran is seen in light of the nuclear deal reached upon recently by Iran and the P5+1, where it is important to remember that Riyadh had firmly blocked previous UN-led efforts to bring Iran into talks. The Guardian comments on this saying “the fact that King Salman has apparently given way reflects US determination, Saudi weakness and international desperation about Syria.”