Iran is reportedly seeking to engage in exclusive negotiations with the US to decide the fate of Syria.

According to a report posted on the website of Middle East Online, Tehran expressed its readiness to drop its ally Bashar Al Assad in return for breaking the alliance between Washington and Saudi Arabia.

“Tehran expressed readiness to keep off Russia in Syria in return for sidelining Saudi Arabia in Syria,” said a Gulf source in a report from Washington.

According to the same source, Tehran regime is manoeuvring in an attempt to break the Saudi-US alliance
regarding Syria.

Senior US officials confirmed that Iranians said they were ready to drop their Russian ally in return for exclusive negotiations between Washington and Tehran regarding the Syrian crisis.

The aim is to exclude Riyadh, Ankara and Moscow from any negotiations to seek a settlement putting an end to the Syrian crisis.

Under the Iranian manoeuvre, the US would negotiate on behalf of the Syrian opposition, without taking the Saudis into account.

However, the US officials fell short of unveiling the “channels” through which Tehran regime conveyed its demands to Washington, saying that the channels were “multiple, direct and indirect”.

Observers said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif might have suggested the idea to US State Secretary John Kerry on the sidelines of the Vienna talks on the Syrian crisis.

According to the US officials, President Obama’s administration thinks that “Iran is now more interested in defeating Saudi Arabia than maintaining Al Assad in power”.

Observers said Iran’s long-term goal is to torpedo the traditional alliance bonding Washington and Riyadh.