First trip by an Iranian president to Syria since the conflict

With a long-term strategic cooperation agreement, Ebrahim Raisi and Bashar Assad have hinted at a reconciliation.

During their first meeting since before war broke out more than ten years ago, the presidents of Iran and Syria signed a long-term strategic cooperation agreement, according to the state news agency of Damascus, SANA, on Wednesday.

On Wednesday in Damascus, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, to sign numerous memoranda of understanding. The agreements encompassed railroads, civil aviation, agriculture, free zones, and cooperation in oil, communications, and information technology.

The leaders also signed a memorandum of understanding between the International Institute of Seismic Engineering in Iran and the National Center for Earthquakes in Syria, as well as an agreement on the mutual acceptance of maritime credentials.

Assad and Raisi reaffirmed the geopolitical goals that both nations share and talked about recent political developments in the area. Raisi praised his host nation for “achieving victory despite the threats and sanctions imposed on you,” saying, “We are currently witnessing many political developments and changes in the region and the world, but relations between the two countries have not and will not be affected by these changes and developments.”

He declared that Iran will “stand side by side with Syria, especially during the period of reconstruction.”

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was president at the time, was the last Iranian head of state to travel to Syria in 2010, though Tehran has since given Damascus financial and military support.

Foreign ministers from Egypt and Saudi Arabia have recently paid a visit to Damascus, suggesting that regional hostilities have reportedly subsided since the US and its allies targeted Assad’s administration for isolation and annihilation, which caused it to become alienated from many of its Arab neighbors.

Iranian state media quoted Hossein Akbar, the country’s recently appointed ambassador to Syria, as saying that “America and its allies failed on all fronts against the resistance, and could not achieve any of their goals.”

After seven years of no formal contact, Iran and Saudi Arabia’s respective embassies reopened in March as another sign of the softening of regional tensions. China had hosted a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two nations.