By Mehran Shamsuddin
TEHRAN - The Syrian government has dispatched a delegation of three ministers to Tehran in a bid to take the economic partnership between Iran and Syria to the next level.
The high-level delegation is made up of Foreign Minister Feisal Mekdad, Communications and Technology Minister Iyad al-Khatib, and Economy and Foreign Trade Minister Samer al-Khalil.
In Tehran, the Syrian ministers held a meeting with their counterparts to achieve the main goal of the visit, which is to follow up on the agreements signed between the two countries during the recent visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Damascus.
Mekdad held a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir Abdollahian. They discussed a wide variety of issues, including those related to economic cooperation.
After their meeting, the two foreign ministers held a joint presser in which they addressed the points discussed in their meeting. Speaking to reporters at the press conference, Amir Abdollahian said his meeting with Mekdad centered around implementing the agreements signed in Damascus during President Raisi’s trip.
“We hope that with the continuous follow-up of the ambassadors of the two countries, we will see the progress of the implementation of the agreements in various fields,” the Iranian foreign minister said.
Amir Abdollahian said he discussed with Mekdad such issues as forming a joint insurance company, trade exchanges in national currencies, and affordable pilgrimage facilities for Iranian citizens.
“Strengthening the private sector of both sides, increasing air travel between the two countries along with the development of economic cooperation and cooperation in the field of transit were also discussed today,” the Iranian foreign minister said, according to state news agency IRNA.
He pointed out that several Iranian-Syrian joint committees are actively working to implement the agreements signed by the presidents of the two countries.
The Syrian foreign minister, for his part, said practical steps have been taken by Syria to further boost relations between Tehran and Damascus. He said that Iran and Syria are making efforts to bring about achievements in relations. “Practical steps have been started in this regard and we are trying to implement with the orders of the leaders of the two countries,” Mekdad said.
During the Syrian delegation’s visit to Iran, many important economic agreements were reached. One such agreement is the launch of an Iranian bank branch in Syria. Mehrdad Bazarpash, the Iranian transportation minister, said an official agreement was reached with the Syrian delegation to open the branch in Syria.
In addition to economic issues, a set of political and diplomatic topics were also on the agenda of the Iranian and Syrian foreign ministers.
Amir Abdollahian said peace and security cannot be achieved in the region with the intervention of foreign forces. He said peace and security can be achieved only when foreign forces leave the region, Western sanctions are lifted and refugees returned home, and national dialogue is held.
He also underlined the need for the Astana peace process to continue. Amir Abdollahian also touched on the Iranian initiative to patch up relations between Syria and Turkey, saying that Iran suggested that Turkish forces leave Syrian territory based on a certain timetable and the Syrian government take control of the borders. Tehran and Moscow, according to Amir Abdollahian, would be ready to act as the guarantor of the Turkey-Syria deal.
Amir Abdollahian also issued a warning to the Zionist regime of Israel. “We see this regime as the main source of instability in the region,” the Iranian foreign minister said. “They know very well that no action of the Zionists in the region has gone unanswered and will not go unanswered, and the Zionists will certainly feel and suffer the consequences of their actions in the form of multi-layered crises within that regime.”
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