Pan-Arab body not expected to include issue on agenda for upcoming annual conference in Tunis
The Arab League has announced its conditions for Syria’s return to the regional organization in light of a civil war – now in its ninth year – that has turned decidedly in favor of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Hossam Zaki, assistant secretary-general of the Arab League, affirmed on Wednesday that Syria’s return would be linked to a consensus by member states based on a political settlement and Damascus’s relations with Tehran. His comments came on the sidelines of a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Tunis in preparation for the conference, to take place in the city on March 30.
Syria will not be attending the meeting.
“There is no Arab majority that considers Syria, with its current regime, a country capable of returning to the Arab League,” Bishara Asad, a Lebanese writer and analyst, told The Media Line, explaining that Iran, in collaboration with Russia, was controlling the Syrian political scene.
“A Syrian return is conditional on a political process, in addition to an end to Iranian hegemony there,” he said, adding that this was unlikely right now.
“With Iran, Syria lost its ability to speak as an independent state,” he said.
Moreover, Asad pointed out that a resumption of Syria’s membership in the Arab League would be contingent on Damascus transitioning from a state of war.
“What’s needed is a transitional phase that establishes a basis for permanent peace,” he elaborated., “and that is not the case in Syria now.”
Oraib Rintawi, a Jordanian political analyst, told The Media Line that Syria stood to lose little by not participating in the upcoming conference.
“At the end of the day, the Arab League has failed to solve any issue in the Middle East,” he said.
Rintawi clarified that the root of the problem was Washington’s involvement and pressure on some Arab states to reconsider improved ties with Damascus.
“The American secretary of state visited more than eight Arab countries to achieve this,” he said, noting that some Arab nations had renewed relations with Damascus.
“Some Arab states were reopening embassies in Syria, but that has now dramatically changed,” Rintawi continued, noting additional pressure from European countries that are not very excited about Arab-Syrian normalization.
“Iran and a political settlement have existed [as issues] for a while now, he stressed, saying that the main obstacle to Syria’s return to the Arab League had to do with the foreign policies of countries outside the region.
Ahead of the peace plan expected soon from US President Donald Trump’s administration, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be on the agenda in Tunis. The Arab League is also expected to strongly condemn Trump’s declaration recognizing Israeli sovereignty over that part of the Golan Heights that Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 war.
The Media Line discusses the upcoming Arab League summit with Dr. Alireza Nourizadeh, director of the London-based Center for Iranian and Arab Studies.
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