De-escalation zones in Syria: he who said yes, he who said no!

Tabnak – The latest round of Syria talks in Kazakhstan ended yesterday while the countries guaranteeing the ceasefire agreed on establishing the so-called "de-escalations zones” in the war-torn country. While some observers consider the agreement as a mover forward in the peace process, the Syrian opposition’s objection to the plan, still keeps the prospects of its implementation vague.

It was reported yesterday afternoon that Turkey, Iran and Russia, the three countries behind peace efforts in Syria, signed a memorandum on creating de-escalation zones in Syria. The deal was signed during the fourth round of the Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Moscow put forward the idea of setting up safe zones in four areas in northern, central and southern Syria, where the most intense fighting is underway between the Syrian government and different militant groups.

The Russian proposal seeks to "put an immediate end to the violence" gripping Syria and "provide the conditions for the safe, [and] voluntary return of refugees,” AFP reported citing a version of the initiative provided by a source close to the opposition.

However, according to the New York Times, some rebels, in rejecting the deal, said they would not accept Iran as a guarantor and reiterated their demands for the ouster of Lebanon’s Hezbollah forces, an end to "arbitrary detentions”, and other concessions the government is unlikely to grant.

At the same time, the United States declared that it was concerned about Iran's role as a guarantor of a new agreement. While the United States supports any effort to de-escalate the violence in Syria, the involvement of Iran as one of the guarantors of the Astana agreement reached on Thursday between Russia, Turkey, and Iran raised concerns, said the US State Department in a statement.

However, UN Secretary-General António Guterres commended the agreement. Guterres was "encouraged by the agreement today in Astana, Kazakhstan, by guarantor countries Iran, Russia and Turkey to de-escalate violence in key areas in Syria,” the spokesman for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, wrote in a statement released by the UN.

Earlier, Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy on Syria, praised the deal as "an important, promising, positive step in the right direction in the process of de-escalation of the conflict.”

Among the others who commented on the agreement, Saudi Arabia cautiously welcomed it, saying that "we are for having the stabilization zones” but that they first need to see more details coming from the talks, Reuters reported, citing Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

And at the latest development regarding the agreement, Russia declared that the de-escalation zones agreed to be formed in four conflict zones across Syria will be closed for warplanes of the US and its coalition allies, Russian news agencies quoted Russian envoy at Syria peace talks Alexander Lavrentyev as saying on Friday.

However, Lavrentyev had said Thursday that that under the plan Russia could send observers to safe zones. He said third-party monitors could be invited provided Iran and Turkey agreed.

The fourth round of Astana talks held on Wednesday and Thursday was also attended by US and Jordanian observers. The problem is however that the armed opposition delegation, representing over a dozen militant groups, has so far rejected the memorandum, claiming it poses a threat to Syria’s territorial integrity.