Al-Assad, Raisi agree on long-term strategic cooperation… Details
In the first visit by an Iranian president since the war broke out in 2011, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi traveled to Damascus on Wednesday, starting with a two-day round of talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad on strengthening the already strong relations between the two countries.
While Raisi spoke of “major victories” for Syria, al-Assad noted that Iran supported the Syrian government just as it did Iran in the 8th year of war with Iran in the 1980s. al-Assad and Raisi signed a memorandum of understanding for a long-term comprehensive strategic cooperation plan at the end of their talks yesterday.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the agreements signed between Syria and Iran included memorandums of understanding for cooperation in the agricultural field, mutual recognition of maritime certificates, minutes of a meeting for cooperation in the field of railways, minutes of a civil aviation meeting, a memorandum of understanding in the field of free zones, and a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of oil.
This is the first visit by an Iranian president in 13 years. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Iran, and Al-Assad visited Tehran twice in past years; The first was in 2019 under former President Hassan Rouhani and the second last year under Raisi.
According to the Syrian presidency and the Iranian News Agency (IRNA), during wide-ranging talks between the two sides at the presidential palace, President al-Assad said, “The Syrian government and people have passed through great difficulties,” and continued, “Today we can say that you have crossed all these problems and achieved victory, despite the threats and sanctions imposed against you.”
Al-Assad said Syrian-Iranian relations “have been stable and stable during difficult times, despite the severe political and security storms that have hit the Middle East.”
According to Raisi’s statements upon his departure from Tehran, his visit comes within the context of “strengthening and strengthening economic, political and security relations,” considering that “it has become clear to all today that Syria and its legitimate government must exercise sovereignty over all of the Syrian territory.”
Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said in Tehran on Tuesday that the visit was at al-Assad’s invitation and was of “strategic importance” to both countries, adding that its aim was “economic”.
Security forces are heavily deployed in Damascus, and Iranian flags were hoisted on light poles along the airport road. Another flag leads to the Sayyida Zainab area, south of the capital. Pictures of the Iranian and Syrian presidents with “Welcome” written on them in Arabic and Farsi were also posted.
The visit of Raisi comes amid a rapprochement between Riyadh and Tehran, which announced in March the resumption of their relations, after a break due to several issues, including the Syrian conflict. Meanwhile, there is an Arab – Saudi especially – openness towards Damascus, which several Arab countries have boycotted since 2011.
“Fronts in Syria have been relatively quiet since 2019, though the war is not effectively over, and government forces now control most of the areas lost at the start of the conflict.” “Attracting reconstruction funds has become a priority for Damascus, as the war has ravaged its infrastructure, factories, and production.”
