DAMASCUS (AFP) – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Damascus yesterday, state media said, on the first visit by a head of state from the republic since Syria’s civil war broke out 12 years ago.
Raisi was due to meet his ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, at a time more regional governments are re-engaging with the Syrian regime as it seeks to rebuild after the years of civil war.
During the conflict, Tehran has provided economic, political and military support to Syria, helping Damascus claw back lost territory and positioning Iran in a leading role as Assad seeks to focus on reconstrution.
The two-day visit comes just weeks after Iran’s landmark, Chinese-brokered agreement to restore ties with Saudi Arabia.
Raisi, joined by a large ministerial delegation, and Assad will hold “extensive political and economic discussions… followed by the signing of a number of agreements,” Syria’s state news agency SANA said.
The Iranian delegation includes the ministers of foreign affairs, defence, oil, roads and city construction as well as telecommunications.
Preparations for Raisi’s visit have been underway for days in the Damascus district housing Iran’s embassy, with concrete barriers in front of the mission removed, an AFP correspondent said.
Both Tehran and Damascus remain under heavy Western sanctions.
Security forces were heavily deployed in key parts of the Syrian capital.
Syrian and Iran flags lined the road from Damascus international airport to the Sayyida Zeinab mausoleum, south of Damascus.
Billboards with portraits of the two presidents that said “welcome” in Arabic and Farsi had been erected along the airport road. Iranian government spokesperson Ali Bahadori Jahromi said on Tuesday that “both countries are ready for the highest level of cooperation, and the purpose of this trip is economic”, adding that they could also “cooperate” during the reconstruction phase.
The last Iranian president to visit Damascus was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in September 2010.
Assad has officially visited Tehran twice since the war broke out, the last time in May 2022.
