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Roundup: Assad hails Iran's support as "cornerstone" in Syria war on terror

Xinhua, May 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed Tuesday that Iran's support for Syria constitutes a cornerstone in the battle on terrorism, official SANA news agency reported.

Assad made the remarks during his meeting with Ali Akbar Velayati, the visiting Iranian foreign affairs adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

During the meeting, Assad slammed the roles of Saudi Arabia and Turkey, accusing them of supporting terrorist groups in Syria, according to SANA.

For his part, Velayati noted that the war waged on Syria is due to its stances with the "resistance axis," a reference to Iran, Syria and Hezbollah.

The top Iranian official, meanwhile, reiterated Tehran's support for Damascus in "everything possible to reinforce the resistance showed by the Syrian people in defending its country and confronting terrorism."

Velayati told reporters that his meeting with Assad was "largely constructive and extremely important because the relations between Iran and Syria are so strategic."

He also hailed the "valuable victories" the Syrian army and the Lebanese Hezbollah group are achieving against extremist groups in the mountainous range of Qalamoun, north of the capital Damascus and along the border with Lebanon.

"It was necessary to congratulate President Assad and get benefits from his opinion regarding how to elevate the cooperation between Syria and Iran and the axis of resistance in general," he said.

He attributed Syria's withstanding of the four-year-old conflict to Assad's "wisdom" and the "popular backing behind him."

The senior Iranian official also criticized the role of the Gulf States in nurturing the Syrian conflict, accusing countries like Saudi Arabia and some regional countries of "supporting the terrorists."

Velayati's visit also coincides with a visit by Rostam Qasemi, Chairman of Iranian-Syrian Economic Relations Development Committee, who met with Assad on Monday and discussed ways to boost economic ties between the two countries.

On Tuesday, State media reported that Syria and Iran has signed several agreements on cooperation in electricity, industry, oil, and investment.

Velayati and Qasemi's visits come less than a week after Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian parliament's national security commission, met Assad to stress Tehran's "unlimited" and "permanent" support to the Syrian government.

Earlier Tuesday, pro-government al-Watan newspaper said the visits of top Iranian officials were a show of Tehran's support for Damascus and a move to counter recent rumors about a rift between the allies amid a four-year insurgency in Syria.

Citing what it described as diplomatic sources, al-Watan said the Iranian official holds a "clear message of support" from Khamenei.

Iran has emerged as a staunch ally to Syria during the long-running conflict. The recent visits of Iranian officials to Damascus aim to send clear message that Iran will keep on backing Assad. Endit