Syrian Foreign Minister Visits Tehran

Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad, with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. (SANA)
Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad, with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. (SANA)
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Syrian Foreign Minister Visits Tehran

Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad, with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. (SANA)
Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad, with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. (SANA)

Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad arrived in Tehran on Sunday for a two-day visit at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The visit aims to boost strategic relations between the two countries, according to Syria's al-Watan newspaper.

Deputy Foreign Minister Bashar al-Jaafari is accompanying Mekdad, who is heading an official delegation, on the trip.

The visit comes days after Damascus received an Iranian economic delegation headed by the Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade Reza Fatemi Amin.

The delegation met several senior officials in Damascus at the opening of the exhibition of Iranian products and services in the capital.

They also launched the Syrian-Iranian Investment Forum last week, in conjunction with the announcement of a joint bank to facilitate trade and financial exchange between the two countries.

The Syrian-Iranian economic and diplomatic activity witnessed a remarkable increase, with the gradual return of Arab economic-diplomatic relations, especially from the United Arab Emirates.

Last week, Damascus hosted its first Arab economic conference since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011.

Iran's state-owned IRNA reported that the UAE's National Security Adviser, Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will visit Iran Monday at the invitation of the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani to discuss expanding bilateral ties.



Iran: Partnership Pact with Russia Doesn’t Include Defense Clause

Tehran and Moscow have boosted their military and political cooperation in recent years. Maxim Shemetov / POOL/AFP
Tehran and Moscow have boosted their military and political cooperation in recent years. Maxim Shemetov / POOL/AFP
TT

Iran: Partnership Pact with Russia Doesn’t Include Defense Clause

Tehran and Moscow have boosted their military and political cooperation in recent years. Maxim Shemetov / POOL/AFP
Tehran and Moscow have boosted their military and political cooperation in recent years. Maxim Shemetov / POOL/AFP

Russia and Iran will sign a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty on Friday during a visit to Moscow by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, cementing ties between two of the world's most heavily sanctioned countries.
The agreement comes just three days before Iran-hawk Donald Trump enters the White House and as Moscow and Tehran seek to formalize their close relationship after years of deepening cooperation, said AFP.
Iran has supplied Russia with self-detonating "Shahed" drones that Moscow fires on Ukraine in nightly barrages, according to Ukrainian and Western officials, while both nations have ramped up trade amid Western sanctions.
The new treaty will strengthen Tehran and Moscow's "military-political and trade-economic" relations, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, without providing further detail.
Tehran has given little information about Friday's pact, but ruled out a mutual defense clause like the one included in Russia's treaty with North Korea last year, Russian state media reported, citing Tehran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi.
The two sides had been working on a new treaty for years, with their current relationship governed by a 2001 agreement that they have renewed periodically.
'Global hegemony'
Russia says its upcoming pact with Iran and the already-signed treaty with Pyongyang are "not directed against any country".
"The treaty ... is constructive in nature and is aimed at strengthening the capabilities of Russia, Iran, and our friends in various parts of the world," Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.
It is set to be valid for 20 years, Russia's TASS news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Iranian ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made building ties with Iran, China and North Korea a cornerstone of his foreign policy as he seeks to challenge what he calls as US-led "global hegemony".
Both Russia and Iran are under heavy Western sanctions that include restrictions on their vital energy industries.
At a summit of the BRICS group in Kazan last year, Putin told Pezeshkian he valued "truly friendly and constructive ties" between Russia and Iran.
Pezeshkian's visit to Russia comes just days before Trump returns to power.
The US president-elect, who has made repeated military threats against Iran, is seeking a rapid end to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The agreement comes a month after a rebel offensive overthrew Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad -- who was heavily supported by both Moscow and Tehran -- and as Israel and Iran's ally Hamas gear up for a ceasefire in Gaza.