DAMASCUS (Dispatches) -- Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian here Saturday held talks on bilateral ties and developments across the region with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In addition to ways to further boost bilateral economic and political relations, the two discussed recent developments in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Iraq, according to a statement by the Iranian foreign ministry.
Amir-Abdollahian said the diplomatic atmosphere in last month’s United Nations General Assembly showed that “conditions have changed in favor of Syria”.
As senior Taliban officials and the United States representatives held talks in Qatar on Saturday that Iran did not attend because of the American presence, the foreign minister also said Tehran is “in contact with all sides in Afghanistan including Taliban” and continues to call on them to form an inclusive government.
According to the Iranian foreign ministry, al-Assad said recent developments in Syria, including a presidential election that secured him another term, in addition to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, signal the “rise of a new axis and the fall of the Western axis”.
The Iranian foreign minister further told the Syrian president that the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran has envisioned a “sustainable economic development plan” that will be implemented regardless of whether U.S. sanctions remain in place.
Shortly after arriving in Damascus, Amir-Abdollahian told reporters that Iran and Syria have recently reached agreements to boost economic, trade, and tourism ties, and they will be implemented soon.
Amir-Abdollahian told al-Assad that Iran will return to Vienna to resume talks on restoring its 2015 nuclear deal, but will seek to “verify” the lifting of sanctions, and “necessary guarantees” that Western powers will this time implement their commitments in full.
The U.S. unilaterally abandoned the accord in 2018, and Iran maintains that Europe is also complicit as it complied with Washington’s sanctions that at times hindered even humanitarian trade.
Speaking after a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, the Iranian foreign minister said Syria is the strategic ally of Iran, adding Tehran has proved that it would never leave alone its friends in difficult times.
Amir-Abdollahian said Mekdad will make a visit to Tehran within the next days.
“Our ties with Syria are strategic and we are trying to expand our cooperation with the country in all fields. Syria is on the path of development and progress, and on this path, Iran will strongly stand by Damascus, as it did during the war on terrorists,” Amir-Abdollahian told reporters upon his arrival.
This is the third stop in Amir-Abdollahian’s regional trip after
visiting Russia and Lebanon for high-level talks.
In Moscow, he met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Wednesday in talks that he said Iran hopes will lead to a “big jump” in relations as the two countries are considering a long-term cooperation road map.
During a two-day trip to Lebanon, he met President Michel Aoun in addition to top officials of the newly formed administration and said Iran is committed to supporting Lebanon to break the “unjust siege” it is facing under pressure from U.S. sanctions.
Amir-Abdollahian also sat down with Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah and Palestinian resistance leaders in Lebanon.