Can Saudis tempt Moscow into pushing Iran from Syria?

Saudi Arabia hosted a conference on Nov. 22 for the Syrian opposition aimed at unifying its position ahead of the UN-backed Geneva 8 talks. At the conclusion of what became known as the Riyadh 2 meeting, the participants stressed, “[The transition in Syria] cannot happen without the departure of Bashar al-Assad and his clique of repression and tyranny at the start of the interim period.”

In contrast, however, the statement by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir was softer, referencing “consensus” and avoiding mention of Assad or anything related to his fate. Jubeir told the representative of the Syrian opposition, “There is no solution to the crisis without a Syrian consensus that would achieve the demands of the Syrian people on the basis of Geneva 1 and [UN Security Council Resolution] 2254.”