Iran, Syria to Sign Agreements During Raisi's Visit to Damascus

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (Reuters)
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (Reuters)
TT

Iran, Syria to Sign Agreements During Raisi's Visit to Damascus

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (Reuters)
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (Reuters)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Damascus Wednesday at the head of a sizeable ministerial delegation, the first by an Iranian president to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since war broke out in Syria in 2011.

A local newspaper revealed an Iranian plan to invest in the electricity sector in Syria, which will be discussed during the President's visit.

Al-Watan quoted informed sources saying that the Syrian government is arranging to sign new agreements with Iran in energy and electricity and that negotiations will occur during the Iranian President's visit.

The talks will also address a new Iranian line of credit to be invested in electricity, aiming to help Syria improve the sector, which has been suffering for over a decade.

According to the newspaper's sources, the Iranian delegation will discuss assisting Syria in repairing and establishing new electric power plants.

The Iranian President's agenda includes talks with his Syrian counterpart, meetings with Syrian politicians and clerics, and a tour of several areas in Damascus and its countryside.

Meanwhile, the joint Syrian-Iraqi committee began meeting in Damascus less than a week after the joint Syrian-Iranian economic committee sessions in Damascus.

The meetings discussed establishing the railway line through Iran, Iraq, and Syria and constructing the Basra-Shalamcheh line, announced Iranian minister for roads and construction Mehrdad Bazerbash.

Bazerbash chaired the Iranian delegation in the meetings that focused on the electricity and priorities in the Iranian credit line.

They also addressed the railway corridor, increasing the number of trips between the two countries, assisting the Syrian fleet, and inaugurating the al-Hamidiyah Port in Tartus.

The Iranian side renewed its request for 5,000 hectares of Syrian agricultural land for agricultural experiments and transferred Iranian expertise to the Syrian side.

Iraqi Trade Minister, Atheer al-Ghurairy, headed the Iraqi delegation, and the Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, Mohammad Samer al-Khalil, chaired the team to the meetings of the Syrian-Iraqi joint committee.

According to local media in Damascus, a number of joint memorandums of understanding are expected to be signed.

Meanwhile, Syrian authorities are removing the checkpoints in Damascus near the security square, including a barrier at the entrance to the al-Maliki neighborhood close to the presidential palace.

Earlier, Damascus governorate removed illegal stalls and kiosks on sidewalks and roads to facilitate traffic.

The services department warned all stalls and kiosks' owners and then began removing the illegal businesses, issuing tickets for their owners.

Notably, Damascus preceded the visit of the Saudi Foreign Minister to Damascus last April by removing three roadblocks leading to the Abu Rummaneh neighborhood, where most Arab embassies are located. It is close to the presidential palace and the Four Seasons Hotel, the residence of international delegations.

The streets surrounding religious shrines, such as Sitt Ruqayyah in Old Damascus and the shrine of Sayyida Zeinab in southern Damascus, are witnessing a cleaning campaign amid a security alert.

The Iranian President is expected to visit the areas and the shrines.



Netanyahu Prepares Grounds to Dismiss Chief of Staff

Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
TT

Netanyahu Prepares Grounds to Dismiss Chief of Staff

Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)

After the successful ousting of his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing the grounds to dismiss Army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, reports in Tel Aviv revealed.
The PM’s intentions were visible through a series of preliminary measures. In a nine-minute video statement posted to social media on Saturday, Netanyahu claimed the ongoing investigation into the alleged theft and leak of classified documents, including by his aides, aimed at harming him and “an entire political camp.”
He then asserted that vital classified documents weren’t reaching him. “I am the prime minister. I need to receive important classified documents, and indeed sometimes important information doesn’t reach me.”
Netanyahu then defended his former spokesman Eli Feldstein, who is accused of leaking a classified document in a bid to sway public opinion against a truce-hostage deal in Gaza.
Last Thursday, Feldstein was charged with transferring classified information with the intent to harm the state.
The PM considered accusations against his spokesman as a “witch hunt” against his aides and Israelis who support him.
For the past 14 years, the Israeli right had run a large-scale incitement campaign against the security services. But in the last year, this camp increased its attack, particularly against the Chief of Staff, Halevi, who believes it is necessary to stop the war and ink a deal with Hamas.
The right-wing “Mida” website published a report entitled “Herzi Halevi’s Political Sabotage,” describing the man’s “rising against the Israeli political leadership.”
The report said Halevi's inappropriate behavior started during the first weeks of the war when the Army announced it was “ready for a ground attack,” accusing Netanyahu of delaying such an operation.
Mida then listed several other instances in which it described Netanyahu as a great leader who ordered strong attacks and deep military operations. It then accused the army of refraining from following his orders.
The report concludes that the “freeing of hostages file was the straw that broke the camel's back.”
In an April 2024 speech marking the six-month anniversary of the war, Halevi has said that it is time to end the war in Gaza and reach a prisoner swap deal with Hamas, while Netanyahu took a hardline stance, refusing to compromise on what he called “red lines.”
The Madi website also criticized Halevi for saying that the government was responsible for ordering the army of again operating in Jabalia, a decision that resulted in significant Israeli casualties.
“Halevi should have been dismissed as soon as the government was formed, and this was Netanyahu's mistake. But it is not too late to fix it. You can't win wars with rebel chiefs of staff,” the website wrote.