The Iranian Foreign Ministry commented on the visit of the Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri to Syria, and the signing of an agreement on military cooperation between the two countries.
“Our military cooperation with Syria is not a new matter, and we have had for a long time, both during the period of the late President Hafez al-Assad and President Bashar al-Assad, bilateral relations in various political, economic, security and military fields,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi at a press conference on Monday.
Military cooperation with Syria has been steadily increasing since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported Mousavi as saying.
“This cooperation has become extremely important during the latest stage, in which the government and the Syrian people face external aggressions and terrorism directed by regional and international powers.”
He added that, “the Islamic Republic of Iran is present in Syria at the invitation of its government and people, and that these agreements come in this context. These agreements and the broad political, military and economic cooperation with the government and the Syrian people will continue until they defeat the terrorist groups and recover the lands they occupy.”
The Syrian Minister of Defense, Ali Abdullah Ayoub, signed a military cooperation agreement with Bagheri last Wednesday.
The agreement provides for, “strengthening military and security cooperation in the areas of the armed forces’ work and continuing coordination”, and deals with, “the situation in Syria and the necessity of the withdrawal of foreign forces that entered illegally.”
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad expressed his satisfaction with the results of the meetings of the Syrian and Iranian sides and the signing of the agreement on military and technical cooperation between the two countries.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
