Syria offers Iran “regional alliance” with Turkey

August 21, 2009

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday congratulated Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying his re-election was a "lesson for foreigners," state news agency IRNA reported.

"What happened in Iran was a major event and a great lesson for foreigners, that is why they are so upset," the Syrian president said.

Assad is one of the first foreign leaders to visit Tehran since Ahmadinejad won the June presidential election.

"I came here today to personally convey my warm congratulations to you and the Iranian nation," Assad told Ahmadinejad.

"The Syrian president, in his meeting with the Iranian president, condemned the interference of foreign countries in Iran’s internal affairs," IRNA reported, without elaborating.

It quoted Assad as saying: "The main reason for the West’s interference is to block Iran and Syria’s frequent victories."

When Ahmadinejad was officially sworn in on Aug. 5, U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of France, Britain, Italy and Germany have not congratulated him yet.

"Regional alliance"

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met Assad later and welcomed a proposal by the Syrian president to form an alliance between the two countries as well as neighbouring Iraq and Turkey, state television said, without giving details.

"Such an alliance would be in line with the region’s benefit," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

Assad said that relations between regional allies Syria and Iran and their positions on Middle East issues should remain unchanged during Ahmadinejad’s second four-year tenure.

"Iran and Syria should pursue their… policies in the region," IRNA quoted Assad as telling Ahmadinejad.

He added that meetings between Iranian and Syrian officials are "necessary to send a message to faraway countries and those in the region as they have a weak memory and forget the lessons they learned."

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised on Wednesday key ally Syria for its resistance in the face of world powers in a meeting with Assad, state media reported.

"Syria’s most important characteristic among Arab countries is its steadfastness and resistance," Khamenei said, noting Syria’s excellent standing in the region.

Khamenei said "the resistance front" in the Middle East "should strengthen its cooperation and ties," the state news agency IRNA reported.

"America’s blade has become blunter in the region," Khamenei added.

"The unity between Iran and Syria is the embodiment of resistance in the region," the supreme leader said.

Khamenei also branded as "very positive" Syria’s improved relations with Iraq and said that unity between Iran and its western neighbors, Iraq and Turkey, and with Syria would benefit the region.

President Nicolas Sarkozy thanked Syria and other countries on Sunday for supporting France in the case of a French teaching assistant detained in Iran on spying charges. IRNA did not say whether Assad and Ahmadinejad discussed the issue.

Clotilde Reiss, who was charged with spying, was freed on bail of about $300,000 but she is not allowed to leave the country and is staying in the French embassy pending a verdict.