Nobody Is Really Talking During Syria’s Peace Talks

The Syrian ceasefire talks are already off to a shaky start. The negotiations, which were sponsored by Russia, Iran and Turkey in Astana, Kazakhstan, are the latest attempt to end the six-year civil war in Syria. The proposal for a trilateral ceasefire commission, overseen jointly by the talks’ sponsors, will likely fail because rebel fighters are refusing to talk with Iran. The Syrian rebel groups believe that Iran-backed militias are still breaching the ceasefire that began on December 29. Therefore, the rebels rejected the new plan for Iran to play a role in monitoring the ceasefire. Iran’s allies and Syria’s regime representatives are a little annoyed, but the rebels maintain that the talks will not begin until the Iran-backed militias leave Syria.