Iran’s Ahmadinejad to visit Syria next week

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jan. 15 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be travelling to Syria next week to hold talks with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, the state-owned Fars news agency reported on Sunday. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Jan. 15 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be travelling to Syria next week to hold talks with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, the state-owned Fars news agency reported on Sunday.

Ahmadinejad is expected to stay in Syria for two days, where he will meet and hold talks with al-Assad and other top Syrian officials.

Earlier this month, al-Assad underlined the importance of Tehran-Damascus bilateral relations and defended Tehran in its “legitimate right” to carry out its nuclear activities.

In a meeting with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad-Reza Baqeri in Damascus, al-Assad described Israel as a regional threat.

Last week, Iran Focus reported that the new Iranian ambassador to Damascus, radical Shiite cleric Mohammad Hassan Akhtari, was instructed to reassure Syria’s leaders of Iran’s continuing strong support for their beleaguered government.

Iran’s official media have been pouring scorn on Syria’s former vice-president, Abdel-Halim Khaddam, calling him a “traitor” and “a tool in the hands of the Global Oppressor”, a reference to the United States.

Regional allies Tehran and Damascus have both been branded by the United States as state sponsors of terrorism.