The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has withdrawn an offer for Iran to attend this week's peace conference on the Syrian crisis.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Photo: AFP
The move came after Tehran said it would not support the June 2012 political transition deal that is the basis for the talks.
"He (Mr Ban) continues to urge Iran to join the global consensus behind the Geneva communique," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said "Given that it has chosen to remain outside that basic understanding, (Mr Ban) has decided that the one-day Montreux gathering will proceed without Iran's participation."
Mr Ban earlier told Reuters that Iran's position was "not consistent" with assurances he had been given by Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
The invitation to Iran, a key ally of the Syrian regime, angered the US and the Western-backed Syrian opposition.
More than 100,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced in the ongoing Syrian war.
A victim is pulled from the rubble of a building in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Photo: AFP
The BBC reports that the peace conference, due to begin in Switzerland on Wednesday, is the biggest diplomatic effort to end the three-year conflict.
The main exiled opposition group, the National Coalition, had threatened to pull out of the talks if the invitation to Iran was not rescinded, but they have since confirmed they will attend.
