TEHRAN – Syria and Iran have agreed to renew an economic strategic arrangement between the two countries as Damascus prepares to welcome Iran’s president in the near future.
Iran has also been a critical economic lifeline for Syria, delivering fuel and credit lines worth billions of dollars to help Damascus offset crippling Western-led sanctions. Syria’s economy across both government and militant-held areas has hit an all-time low over the past decade, with spiraling inflation, a currency plunge, and rampant power cuts.
Syria and Iran signed almost a dozen economic deals in 2019 as part of the long-term strategic economic agreement to bolster their commercial ties.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian, who met in Damascus with Assad and his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad, did not set a date on where or when the signing of the extension will take place.
“Tehran and Damascus will continue to cooperate in all matters, especially with energy,” Amir-Abdollahian said at a news conference following the meetings.
Mekdad echoed similar sentiments, adding that developments in the “coming days” will further bolster them.
“We explored ways to expand economic and commercial ties and enhance cooperation to confront the illegal Western coercive economic measures imposed on both countries,” Mekdad said.
Amir-Abdollahian welcomed expansion of Syria’s foreign relations, saying this issue indicated the Arab country’s importance and significant position in the region.
For his part, Assad described Iran as the closest country to Syria, which stood by its side during the foreign-backed war, adding that Damascus will never forget the support provided to it by the Islamic Republic.
The Islamic Republic is Syria’s partner, Assad said, adding that the two countries will continue to stand by each other and support each other in various areas.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian separately stressed that nothing can diminish the Palestinian issue, dismissing the normalization agreements signed between a number of Arab countries and the occupying Israeli regime as “worthless”.
Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks during a meeting with a number of high-ranking officials and representatives from Palestinian resistance groups in Damascus on Saturday night.
“Palestine and Al-Quds are the principal issues of the Muslim world.
Palestine will remain the foremost issue of Muslims until a Palestinian state is formed within its historical boundaries, with Al-Quds as its capital,” he stated.
“The United States and its allies have unveiled various plans one after another for many years, namely the Oslo Accords, the Greater Middle East, the Deal of the Century, and the Abraham Accords. The Palestinian nation and resistance forces have, however, managed to thwart all those plots through exemplary unity, resilience and perseverance,” he said.
Amir-Abdollahian said that the 11-day Operation Sword of Al-Quds between the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance groups and the Israeli military in May 2021 proved that Axis of Resistance and Palestine are alive.
“Even the World Cup [in Qatar] showed that Palestine is alive, and the normalization of Arab-Israeli relations is worthless,” he said.
The Iranian foreign minister also pointed to the Zionist regime’s newly formed far-right cabinet headed by Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister, stating that the change of names and faces doesn’t make any difference in the regime’s policies as its officials are all radical in nature and responsible for the ongoing problems and boiling security and social crises across the occupied territories.
“Of course, we have witnessed greater cohesion between resistance forces and the Palestinian nation anytime that extremists ascended to power,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
For their part, officials from Palestinian resistance groups briefed the Iranian foreign minister on the latest developments in occupied lands and lauded the Islamic Republic’s unflinching upport for Palestinians and resistance fighters.
They also paid tribute to top Iranian anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport three years ago, stating that he offered great support to the Palestinian cause and empowerment of the resistance front.