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Assad Meets Iran Supreme Leader in Tehran

Syrian regime head Bashar Assad meets with Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran in this handout released by SANA on February 25, 2019. (Reuters)
Syrian regime head Bashar Assad meets with Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran in this handout released by SANA on February 25, 2019. (Reuters)
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Assad Meets Iran Supreme Leader in Tehran

Syrian regime head Bashar Assad meets with Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran in this handout released by SANA on February 25, 2019. (Reuters)
Syrian regime head Bashar Assad meets with Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran in this handout released by SANA on February 25, 2019. (Reuters)

Head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad held talks in Tehran on Monday with Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

It marked Assad’s first visit since the eruption of the Syrian war.

The leaders "reviewed the fraternal and strong relations between their two peoples, which have been the main factor in maintaining Syria and Iran in the face of plots by enemy countries", the presidency said.

Syrian and Iranian state television showed footage of Assad and Khamenei smiling and embracing, and Syrian TV said the two leaders agreed “to continue cooperation at all levels for the interests of the two friendly nations”.

Assad also met with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani during his trip.

Iran “as before will be alongside the people and government of Syria," Iran government's official website quoted Rouhani as saying.

It was Assad’s first known foreign visit other than to Russia since the war began, and his first to Tehran since 2010.

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Iraq, UK Agree on Trade Package Worth up to $15 Billion, Defense Deal

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
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Iraq, UK Agree on Trade Package Worth up to $15 Billion, Defense Deal

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)

Iraq and Britain have agreed on a trade package worth up to 12.3 billion pounds ($14.98 billion) and a bilateral defense deal, the Iraqi and British prime ministers said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The deal, envisaging more than 10 times the total of bilateral trade in 2024, was announced after a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and British counterpart Keir Starmer at the latter's Downing Street offices.

It includes a 1.2-billion-pound project in which British-made power transmission systems will be used for a grid interconnection project between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as well as a 500-million-pound plan to upgrade the Al-Qayyarah air base in northern Iraq.

A water infrastructure project by a UK-led consortium that will help provide clean water in arid southern and western Iraq is also part of the deal, the statement said. The project would be worth up to 5.3 billion pounds in UK exports.

Sudani and Starmer also signed a defense deal that "establishes the basis for a new era in security cooperation".

Sudani said earlier that the UK-Iraqi security deal would develop bilateral military ties after last year's announcement that the US-led coalition set up to fight ISIS would end its work in Iraq in 2026.

The Iraqi premier began an official visit to the United Kingdom on Monday amid historic geopolitical shifts in the Middle East.

Iraq is trying to avoid becoming a conflict zone once again amid a period of regional upheaval that has seen Iran's allies Hamas degraded in Gaza and Hezbollah battered in Lebanon during wars with Israel, and Bashar al-Assad toppled in Syria.