TEHRAN: Syrian President Bashar Assad met with Iranian leaders in Tehran on Sunday, Iranian and Syrian media reported, marking his second trip to major wartime ally Iran since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011.
Nour News, a website close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reported that Assad met Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi. It said the leaders praised the strong ties between their nations and vowed to boost relations further. Assad was reported to have left Tehran for Damascus later on Sunday.
“Everybody now looks at Syria as a power,” Khamenei told Assad in the meeting, according to Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to the country’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. “The respect and credibility of Syria is now much more than before.”
Assad, for his part, said that strong relations between Iran and Syria served as a bulwark against American and Israeli influence in the Middle East.
“America today is weaker than ever,” Syrian state news agency, SANA, quoted Assad as saying. “We should continue this track,” he added, praising Iran’s help in Syria’s “fight against terrorism.”
In an apparent reference to a recent string of deadly attacks in Israel by Palestinian assailants, Assad also said that the Palestinian cause has again captured the world’s attention “because of the sacrifices of the Palestinian resistance.”
Iranian media published photos of Assad shaking hands warmly with Khamenei and grinning beside Raisi.
Assad has rarely traveled abroad since his government’s crackdown on Syria’s civil unrest in 2011 led to a devastating civil war and made him a global pariah.
He has visited key patrons Russia and Iran, and made his first trip to the United Arab Emirates since the conflict earlier this year.
Tehran has given the Syrian government billions of dollars in aid and sent Iran-backed fighters to battle alongside his forces — assistance that, along with Russian air power, has helped turn the tide in Assad’s favor.
The Tehran visit marked Assad’s first trip to the Iranian capital in over two years. The visit was not announced beforehand.
Police were out in force at major thoroughfares and intersections in Tehran on Sunday.
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Syria President Assad visits Iran for meetings in rare trip
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Syria President Assad visits Iran for meetings in rare trip
- Assad: Strong relations between Iran and Syria serve as bulwark against US and Israeli influence in Middle East
- The Tehran visit marked Assad’s first trip to the Iranian capital in over two years
Lebanon, Jordan seek solutions after Damascus bans non-Syrian trucks
- Lebanon and Jordan are seeking a solution with Syria after the latter barred foreign trucks from entering its territory, officials from both countries told AFP on Tuesday.
BEIRUT: Lebanon and Jordan are seeking a solution with Syria after the latter barred foreign trucks from entering its territory, officials from both countries told AFP on Tuesday.
Damascus had issued a decision on Saturday stipulating that “non-Syrian trucks will not be allowed to enter” the country, and that goods being imported by road must be unloaded at specific points at border crossings.
The decision exempts trucks that are only passing through Syria to other countries.
Dozens of trucks unable to enter the country were lined up on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing on Tuesday, an AFP photographer saw.
Ahmad Tamer, head of land and maritime transportation at the Lebanese transport ministry told AFP that discussions were underway with Damascus over the decision.
He said the issue was not specifically targeting Lebanon — which is trying to reset ties with Damascus after the fall of Bashar Assad — adding that he hoped to hold a meeting with the Syrian side soon.
Lebanon sends around 500 trucks to Syria per day, according to Tamer.
In Jordan, also affected by the decision, transport ministry spokesperson Mohammed Al-Dweiri told AFP that “discussions are currently underway, and we are awaiting a response from the Syrian side regarding allowing foreign trucks to enter and cross.”
Dweiri said that Jordanian trucks were continuing to unload their cargo at the free zone at the Nassib border crossing with Syria despite some “confusion.”
Around 250 Jordanian trucks travel to Syria daily, according to him.
A source in the Syrian General Authority for Ports and Customs told AFP that the decision aimed to “regulate the movement of cargo through the ports.”
Representatives of unions and associations in Lebanon’s transport sector denounced the decision on Tuesday and warning of “negative repercussions,” according to the state-run National News Agency.
Syria is the only land route Lebanon can use to export merchandise to wealthy Gulf markets.
As part of continued attempts to rekindle ties, the two countries signed an agreement on Friday to hand around 300 Syrian convicts over to Damascus.
Damascus had issued a decision on Saturday stipulating that “non-Syrian trucks will not be allowed to enter” the country, and that goods being imported by road must be unloaded at specific points at border crossings.
The decision exempts trucks that are only passing through Syria to other countries.
Dozens of trucks unable to enter the country were lined up on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing on Tuesday, an AFP photographer saw.
Ahmad Tamer, head of land and maritime transportation at the Lebanese transport ministry told AFP that discussions were underway with Damascus over the decision.
He said the issue was not specifically targeting Lebanon — which is trying to reset ties with Damascus after the fall of Bashar Assad — adding that he hoped to hold a meeting with the Syrian side soon.
Lebanon sends around 500 trucks to Syria per day, according to Tamer.
In Jordan, also affected by the decision, transport ministry spokesperson Mohammed Al-Dweiri told AFP that “discussions are currently underway, and we are awaiting a response from the Syrian side regarding allowing foreign trucks to enter and cross.”
Dweiri said that Jordanian trucks were continuing to unload their cargo at the free zone at the Nassib border crossing with Syria despite some “confusion.”
Around 250 Jordanian trucks travel to Syria daily, according to him.
A source in the Syrian General Authority for Ports and Customs told AFP that the decision aimed to “regulate the movement of cargo through the ports.”
Representatives of unions and associations in Lebanon’s transport sector denounced the decision on Tuesday and warning of “negative repercussions,” according to the state-run National News Agency.
Syria is the only land route Lebanon can use to export merchandise to wealthy Gulf markets.
As part of continued attempts to rekindle ties, the two countries signed an agreement on Friday to hand around 300 Syrian convicts over to Damascus.
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