Syria's Assad endorses new credit line deal with Iran

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree Wednesday, endorsing a deal between the government and its staunch ally Iran on a new line of credit worth one billion U.S. dollars, according to the state news agency SANA.

A day earlier, the Syrian Parliament ratified the deal that was signed between the Central Bank of Syria (CBS) and the Export Development Bank of Iran on May 19, under which Tehran will provide Damascus with a one billion dollars-worth credit line, the third to be concluded between both allies since the eruption of the Syrian crisis in 2011.

According to SANA, the deal aims at funding imports of goods and commodities and implementing projects.

Last May, Syria and Iran signed several agreements on cooperation in electricity, industry, oil, and investment, following the visits of high profile Iranian officials to Syria, namely, Ali Akbar Velayati, foreign affairs adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Rostam Qasemi, chairman of the Iranian-Syrian Economic Relations Development Committee.

Iran has emerged as a staunch ally of Damascus in the long-running conflict gripping Syria.

Tehran has recently stressed that it will continue supporting the government of President Bashar al-Assad on all levels with no limitation in the face of the global terrorism targeting Syria. Endit