Touring the region: Acting Iranian Foreign Minister's meetings in Lebanon and Syria

Report by Nada Andraos, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

In his first visit since assuming the position of acting Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani moved from Lebanon to Syria, after concluding his first stop by meeting with Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

In Syria, the most prominent topic in the talks between the Iranian minister and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

According to what was reported by the official SANA agency, al-Assad stressed that resistance against the occupation in all its forms will remain a fundamental principle and a strategic choice, especially since leniency with Israel will increase its brutality.

Bagheri stressed the depth of the strategic relationship with Syria, and Iran's efforts to develop it and its relations with the countries of the region.
 
The Iranian-Syrian relations, sanctions and pressures on the two countries, and the hot file in the region, the war on the Gaza Strip are present on the agenda of the talks between Bagheri and his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad.

In this context, the two sides reaffirmed their continued support for the Palestinian resistance, stressing that their countries are considered two basic pillars of stability in the region.

The Iranian minister's visit to Damascus was an opportunity, according to both parties, to rectify the questions surrounding Syrian-Iranian relations about the nature of the differences between the two sides. 

The Arab World Press reported that upon his arrival in the Syrian capital, Bagheri met with the leaders of the Palestinian factions in Syria, without mentioning details about the meeting.