Iranian president holds rare meeting with Assad in Syria

3 May 2023, 11:34

Iranian and Syrian leaders
Syria Iran. Picture: PA

Ebrahim Raisi met his Syrian counterpart in Damascus.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has met his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad in Damascus in a bid to boost cooperation between the two allies, state media reported.

Tehran has been a main backer of Mr Assad’s government since an uprising turned into a full-blown war in March 2011, and has played an instrumental role in turning the tide in his favour.

Iran has sent scores of military advisers and thousands of Iranian-backed fighters from around the Middle East to fight on Mr Assad’s side.

With the help of Russia and Iran, Syrian government forces have controlled large parts of the country in recent years.

Syria Iran
Iran has helped the Syrian government control large parts of the country (Syrian Presidency via Facebook via AP)

In an interview with pan-Arab television channel Al-Mayadeen, Mr Raisi called for reconstruction efforts and for refugees who fled the country’s war to return to the country.

Mr Raisi, who is a leading a high-ranking political and economic delegation in a two-day visit to Syria, was received on arrival at Damascus International Airport on Wednesday by Syrian economy minister Samer al-Khalil.

“Syria’s government and people have gone through great hardship,” Syrian state media quoted Mr Raisi telling Mr Assad during the meeting.

“Today, we can now say that you have overcome all these problems and were victorious despite the threats and sanctions imposed against you.”

He is also set to visit the Sayida Zeinab and Sayida Ruqayya shrines, both holy sites in Shia Islam, as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a monument dedicated to Syrian soldiers killed in battle.

Syria Iran
Mr Raisi noted the hardships the Syrian government and its people have faced (Syrian Presidency via Facebook via AP)

The last Iranian president to visit Syria was President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2010.

The Iranian president’s visit comes as some Arab countries, including regional powerhouses Egypt and Saudi Arabia, have been opening up to Mr Assad and their foreign ministers have visited Damascus in recent weeks.

Syria’s foreign minister also visited the Saudi capital of Riyadh in April, the first such visit since the two countries cut relations in 2012.

In March, Iran and Saudi Arabia, a main backer of Syrian opposition fighters, reached an agreement in China to re-establish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after seven years of tensions.

The reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia is likely to have positive effects on regional states where the two countries fought proxy wars, including in Syria.

Ebrahim Raisi
Mr Raisi steps off the plane as he arrives to the airport in Damascus (AP)

Syria was widely shunned by Arab governments over Mr Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters and the breakdown in relations culminated with Syria being ousted from the Arab League in 2011.

The conflict has since killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of Syria’s pre-war population of 23 million.

“America and its allies failed on all fronts against the resistance, and could not achieve any of their goals,” Iran’s new ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari told Iran’s state news agency on Tuesday.

The Iranian President’s visit also comes a week after its minister for road and urban development Mehrdad Bazrpash met Mr Assad in Damascus, where he delivered a message from the Iranian leader supporting the expansion of economic relations between the two countries, according to Iran’s state news agency.

Iran’s military presence in Syria been a major concern for Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment along its northern border.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years – but rarely acknowledges them.

Since the beginning of 2023, Syrian officials have attributed a dozen strikes on Syrian territory to Israel, the latest of which came early Tuesday and put the international airport of the northern city of Aleppo out of service.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

South Korea president Yoon Suk Yeol removed from office as impeachment upheld over martial law declaration

Virginia Giuffre

Woman driving Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre during crash that left her with 'four days to live' breaks silence

Exclusive
'Donald Trump has made Putin comfortable,' Mikhail Khodorkovsky has warned

'Trump has made Putin comfortable' despite massive Ukraine war losses, exiled former oligarch tells LBC

The bodies of Andrew Searle and his wife Dawn were discovered by a neighbour.

British couple found dead in south of France home being ‘treated as murder-suicide’

The vehicle was later extinguished after the driver, covered in flames, emerged from the vehicle.

Amsterdam Dam Square car explosion sees driver engulfed in flames - just days after mass stabbing

d

Pictured: US tourist arrested for sailing to remote island and leaving a can of Coke for world's most isolated tribe

The Sentinelese are a pre-Neolithic tribe that rejects contact with the modern world

US tourist arrested for sailing to remote island and leaving a can of Coke for the world's most isolated tribe to try

The Trump administration has been ridiculed after imposing tariffs on uninhabited islands

'No one is safe, not even the penguins': Trump administration ridiculed after imposing tariffs on uninhabited islands

World leaders react to US tariffs

'This is not the act of a friend': World leaders react to Trump's 'unwarranted' tariffs

British couple

British couple found dead in New Zealand named - as police probe possible murder-suicide

Virginia Giuffre said she had been left with 'four days to life' after the crash

Bus driver breaks silence on Virginia Giuffre crash that left her 'with four days to live'

Foreign Secretary David Lammy

David Lammy to urge Nato allies to increase defence spending in bid to make alliance 'stronger, fairer and more lethal'

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

EU threatens further countermeasures against US tariffs after 'major blow to world economy'

Lord Sugar labels Trump tariffs 'a disaster' as Apprentice star teases potential US Presidential meeting

Lord Sugar labels Trump tariffs 'a disaster' and warns that the president 'hasn't thought it through'

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations in Gaza

Israel expands ground attack on Gaza to seize 'large areas' - despite pleas from hostage families

Police said two people died on Palliser Road, Roseneath.

British couple found dead at home in New Zealand - just months after moving to 'begin new chapter'