Interview: Saudi-Iran tension to weaken int'l consensus on Syrian crisis: Syrian opposition leader

The international consensus regarding solving the Syrian crisis politically will be more fragile after the mounting tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran, a Syrian opposition leader said Wednesday.

The rift between the region's rival Sunni and Shiite powers hit a new high earlier this month, when Saudi Arabia executed Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric, who was arrested two years ago and sentenced to death for fomenting dissent against the Sunni royal family in Saudi Arabia. Iran said Saudi Arabia would pay a "high price" for the execution.

"The international consensus will be more fragile after the abrupt escalation in tension between Tehran and Riyadh, both are key players in the course of the Syrian crisis," Anas Joudeh, head of the domestically-based National Building Movement, said.

The opposition figure, however, noted that the Saudi feud with Iran would not interfere with Syrian peace talks scheduled to begin later this month.

"Holding the meeting in Geneva is not the important thing, the most important thing lies in the effectiveness of the meeting," Joudeh said, casting doubt on the international consensus regarding a positive outcome.

"The new variables, in the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia, will largely affect the international consensus and I think each party now will cling to his stance regarding the vision to solve the crisis," Joudeh said.

Hopes to bring the Syrian crisis to an end politically have recently risen during world powers meetings in Vienna and New York, during which superpowers and regional ones, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, agreed on roadmap to end the Syrian conflict politically.

The roadmap, which will be first implemented with a meeting this month in Geneva between representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition, is designed to establish dialogue, a cease-fire and a new government in Syria as a prelude to a broader and more inclusive solution.

"I think that consensus that was concluded in Vienna was on bold lines, not specific details," Joudeh said, explaining that the world powers overlooked details that were problematic in previous talks, such as the role of President Bashar al-Assad in the transitional period, categorizing the terrorist groups that should be fought in Syria by the international anti-terror coalition and forming a unified opposition delegation to hold the meeting with the government in Geneva.

"Those details will form obstacles and will resurface after the Iranian-Saudi tension," he said, noting that there will be no soon solution to such a tension.

Regarding the outcome of the upcoming meeting in Geneva, Joudeh said: "This conference will not come out with serious solutions or consensus." He noted, however, that the domestically-based Syrian opposition will support any political solution to the crisis even if the chances of success were one percent.

"The political reality and the reality on ground says that such conferences will not yield anything. These are just formality meetings subject to international variables," he said, adding that "if we wanted a serious political track, we must work on it from inside out."

"It's not important to undertake a cosmetic political process, the important thing is that there should be a true and serious change in the structure of the Syrian society so that we can change, otherwise we will still be under the mercy of the international disputes," he said.

He urged for a political consensus between the current authorities in Syria and the opposition, adding that such consensus could expand to include other parties. Endit