The Syria peace conference room at the conference center "Le Petit Palais" as part of the Montreux-Palace will be the location Wednesday for Geneva II peace talks. (Photo: AFP)

(VOVworld) – The United Nations has canceled an offer to Iran to attend the Syria peace conference, known as Geneva II, which is scheduled for Wednesday, after Tehran refused to support an initiative to establish a transitional government in Syria.

Addressing a press briefing, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesman Martin Nesirky expressed his disappointment at Iran’s announcement which rejected a communiqué reached by world powers at the Geneva I Conference in June 2012 at stopping the political crisis in Syria. Nesirky said that Iran had chosen to remain outside the basic agreement. Ban has decided that the one-day Montreux gathering will proceed without Iran's participation.

After the UN confirmed the cancellation, the opposition Syrian National Council announced that it would take part in the talks. In an official statement, the SNC said it praised Ban’s decision, reiterating its intention to look for a political solution by setting up a transitional government that was fully functioning and had political authority.

On Tuesday just ahead of the ministerial meeting in Montreux on Syria, the Syrian National Council - the biggest bloc in the opposition – declared its intention to quit the Syrian National Coalition in protest over the Geneva II talks. It said that its participation in the talks must depend on a commitment from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quit power.