Syed Zafar Mehdi
03 July 2022•Update: 04 July 2022
TEHRAN, Iran
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who arrived in Syria on Saturday, held a series of meetings with high-ranking Syrian officials focusing on bilateral and regional issues.
The discussions between Amir-Abdollahian, his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad and President Bashar al-Assad primarily centered on their common regional foe, Israel.
Amir-Abdollahian and Mekdad in a joint presser following their meeting reaffirmed the resolve of Tehran and Damascus to "respond to Israeli threats and aggression,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The top Iranian diplomat said Syria has been "at the forefront" of the fight against Israel, vowing his country's "unwavering support" to the Syrian regime.
Amir-Abdollahian's visit to Damascus came hours after the Assad regime claimed that an Israeli airstrike had targeted the town of Al-Hamidiyah south of the port city of Tartus, injuring two civilians.
Israel has allegedly carried out a series of missile strikes on Syria in recent months, including the one that damaged infrastructure, including runways at Damascus airport last month.
Israeli officials have defended military operations in Syria as a means to deter Iran from gaining foothold in the Arab country.
Importantly, two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members were killed in a missile strike in Syria in March, which Iranian and Syrian officials blamed on Israel.
In response, the IRGC launched ballistic missiles at what it claimed was an Israeli base in Iraq's Erbil region in May.
Amir-Abdollahian told his Syrian counterpart that Tehran will "continue supporting Syria to counter the terrorism it has been facing,” in reference to Israeli strikes, describing relations between the two countries as "strategic.”
The Iranian minister also stressed that Tehran was working on a political solution to ease tensions between Türkiye and Syria, while acknowledging Ankara's security concerns.
Pertinently, Amir-Abdollahian had earlier said his Syria visit was aimed at "forging peace and security in the region between Syria and Türkiye." It came after his visit to Ankara.
In a separate meeting with al-Assad, Amir-Abdollahian condemned Israeli strikes on Syria, while slamming Western countries for their "silence" over Israeli attacks, according to the statement issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Tensions between Damascus and Ankara also figured in their discussions, the ministry statement said, adding that Iran's foreign minister stressed on "resolving the issue through dialogue and cooperation,” while acknowledging Ankara's security concerns.
Assad, for his part, termed relations between the two countries as "strategic" and referred to Palestine as a "subject of common concern" between Tehran and Damascus.
On Sunday, Amir-Abdollahian met representatives of Palestinian groups in Syria, in which he called the issue of Palestine as "top issue of the Islamic world" and reaffirmed Tehran's support to the Palestinian resistance groups "until the liberation of their homeland.”
