Iranian officials have intensified their visits to Damascus as Israel increased its raids on the Syrian capital in an effort to contain Tehran’s role in the country.
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh held talks in Damascus on Sunday with President Bashar al-Assad.
Israel has increased its strikes on Syria aimed at combating Iran’s entrenchment there. Attacks on Damascus and its countryside targeted leading members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Another hit the vicinity of Mazzeh military airport, but the target remains unknown.
Nasirzadeh kicked off his visit to Syria on Saturday by meeting political and military officials.
He met Assad on Sunday for discussions on “regional defense and security affairs,” said the Syrian presidency in a brief statement.
The officials tackled bolstering cooperation between Syria and Iran in fighting terrorism to achieve regional security and stability, it added.
Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that Nasirzadeh also met with his Syrian counterpart Ali Mahmoud Abbas and chief of general staff and commander of the armed forces Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim.
Syria enjoys “strategic standing” in Iran’s foreign policy, he was quoted as saying.
He added that he would discuss with Syrian officials several issues related to joint defense and security to expand ties in these areas.
“We are prepared to offer all means of support to Syria,” he added.
Observers noted that the visits by Iranian officials coincided with growing Russian efforts to push Damascus to reach more rapprochement with Arab countries and steer it clear of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and thereby avert a wider war.
Sources monitoring the situation told Asharq Al-Awsat that it will be difficult to sever Damascus’ ties to the Iran-backed “Resistance Axis” - that includes Hezbollah, Hamas and other allied groups - or to diminish Iran’s presence in Syria.
Damascus and Tehran are bound by several long-term strategic cooperation agreements, noted the sources.
Nasirzadeh was in Damascus just days after a visit by Ali Larijani, the Iranian supreme leader’s advisor, who had delivered a message from Ali Khamenei to Assad.
Syrian media sources said the message focused on high military coordination amid the escalating Israeli strikes.
Larijani was in Beirut before heading to Syria where he delivered a message to parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
He confirmed that both messages were from Khamenei himself, adding that Iran will “support any decision taken by the resistance [Hezbollah] related to the ceasefire negotiations with Israel.”
Israel had notably carried out strikes in an around Damascus as Larijani visited.
