TEL AVIV – The UN Security Council passed a resolution seemingly legitimizing the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and invited Iran to join the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), MEMRI reported.
On December 18, 2015, the UNSC unanimously passed Resolution 2254, a Russian initiative that included a “road map for a peace process in Syria” and granted de facto legal status to the ISSG.
The ISSG is comprised of foreign ministers, organizations, and representatives of 18 states (including the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and most recently Iran) with the aim of expediting a resolution of the Syrian crisis. The ISSG convened in Vienna in November and concluded that all political processes in the war torn country must be “Syrian-led” and “Syria-owned.”
Resolution 2254 reflects a change in the international community’s perception of the Syria crisis, its roots, and ways of resolving it. These changes include legitimizing the regime of Syrian President Assad for at least another two years and the acceptance of the regime’s claim that addressing the threat posed by the Islamic State takes priority over the political process.
The resolution also outlines a UN-sponsored ceasefire that is to take effect across Syria at the start of the political process. However, the resolution also emphasizes the danger that terrorist organizations, chiefly the Islamic State and Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN), pose to the future of Syria, the region, and the world, as well as the need to eliminate them. For this reason, the ceasefire will not extend to Syrian-led offensives against such terror groups.
A transitional governing body for the interim period leading up to “free, fair, and multiparty elections” would be established. However, the resolution supports the inclusion of existing members of the present government in the transitional governing body, thereby ensuring the survival of Assad’s regime.
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