Annan Turns to Moscow and Tehran to Help Break Syria Deadlock

The landscape in Syria – politically and militarily – is shifting.

Russia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s main backer, invited an anti-Assad delegation to Moscow this week. It also announced that it would restrict shipments of new weapons to the Syrian armed forces. At the same time, Russian military transport ships are on the way to the Syrian port of Tartus.

Amb. Nicholas Burns the former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2005 until 2008 is trying to sort out these mixed signals. Burns says Moscow is “playing both sides of this issue.”

“It’s unclear if Russia will put maximum pressure on the Syrian government,” Burns says, adding, “There may be a calculation emerging in Moscow, that President Assad will not now survive this crisis.”

Meanwhile, United Nations envoy Kofi Annan is reaching out to Syrian backers in Tehran. After a meeting in Tehran Tuesday Annan said Iran could play a “positive role” in ending the Syrian crisis.