Iran slams Turkey over Assad truce breach comments

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A new round of Syrian peace talks seemed to be in jeopardy on Thursday as Iran struck back at Turkey for accusing the Assad regime of breaching a week-old nationwide truce, calling the allegations “unconstructive” and pointing the finger instead at the rebels, Ankara’s allies, for weakening the ceasefire.

Both Turkey and Iran, along with Russia, are organizing the negotiations between the Syrian government and insurgents in the Kazakh capital of Astana later this month.

Maintaining the truce, which was brokered by Ankara and Moscow last week, is a prelude for the talks. It has been mostly holding, however, persistent clashes around Damascus have undermined it and led to opposing sides engaging in recrimination.

“The current ceasefire in Syria has been violated repeatedly by the anti-government armed opposition groups (in Syria)," Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi speaks during a press conference on August 22, 2016 in Tehran. /CFP Photo

"(Turkey) should take necessary measures to deal with several instances of ceasefire violation by these groups and at the same time refrain from taking unreal stances and accusing other parties."

Ghasemi was responding to a statement on Wednesday by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government of violating the truce, and warned that the peace talks were under threat.

"If we do not stop the increasing violations, the Astana process could fail. After the ceasefire, we see violations," Cavusoglu told Anadolu news agency.

"When we look at who commits these violations, it is Hezbollah, in particular Shiite groups and the regime," he added, urging Russia and Iran to exert pressure on Damascus and the Lebanese militant group to stop their operations.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu looks on following a meeting by the OIC in Jeddah on December 22, 2016, to discuss the situation in Syria. /CFP Photo‍

Ghasemi dismissed Cavusoglu's comments as "unconstructive" and said they could "further complicate the current situation" in Syria.

The blame game has recently escalated over who is behind the fighting in Wadi Barada, a strategic valley north of Damascus which supplies water to four million people in the capital.

On Monday, a group of rebels announced they were freezing their preparation for the talks, throwing the fate of the Syrian negotiations into the unknown.

"The regime and its allies continued their onslaught and committed many big breaches," their statement read.

Reports of a resumption of violence between Syrian pro-government forces and rebels in Wadi Barada emerged on Thursday.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian army, backed by Hezbollah fighters, was pushing to take back parts of the region, launching late on Wednesday “dozens of air strikes on parts of Wadi Barada along with artillery and rocket fire, killing a firefighter.”

The ceasefire, the third in the last 12 months, is the latest bid to put an end to the six-year raging conflict on the Syrian ground, which has killed more than 310,000 people and displaced over half of the country.

Previous agreements have offered a short-lived glimpse of hope but all rounds of Syrian talks have eventually ended amid acrimony between the warring sides.