Al-Mikdad: Syrian-Iranian relations continue to achieve gains for the benefit of the two countries

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal Al-Mikdad, affirmed that the Syrian-Iranian relations continue to achieve major gains for the benefit of the two friendly countries, noting the start of practical steps to implement the agreements reached during Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi’s visit to Syria.

Al-Mikdad said during a press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, in Tehran today: “The visit to Iran, the brotherly country, comes within the framework of continuing to exchange ideas and opinions on developments in the region, and we express the satisfaction of the Syrian leadership and people over the visit that President Ibrahim Raisi paid to Syria recently.”

Al-Mikdad added: “A meeting of the joint Syrian-Iranian committee was held under the chairmanship of the Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, Dr. Muhammad Samer Al-Khalil from the Syrian side, and the membership of the Minister of Communications and Technology, Eng. Iyad al-Khateem  and other ministers. It discussed the situation in Syria and the region, the Astana meetings, the quadripartite meetings of Syria, Russia, Iran and Turkey, and the destructive role played by the United States in Syria, and the US direct occupation of Syrian lands.”

Al-Mikkdad continued: “We say to the Americans, who commit crimes amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity on a daily basis, and to everyone who stands by the American aggression: This cannot continue and that the Syrian people will not tolerate this indefinitely, and the American occupation forces must get out of the country.”

Al-Mikdad said: The brothers in Iran have renewed their support for Syria in various economic, political and social fields, and in other areas of cooperation, in addition to discussing cooperation that is also taking place at the Arab level and at the Arab and Iranian levels.

He affirmed that Syria welcomes and supports all initiatives for the return of refugees to their homeland, but Western countries, led by the United States, which are plundering the wealth of Syria and the region, seek to impede this return, under the pretext that conditions are not favorable, and continue to impose illegal coercive economic measures that cause the delay of this return and deprive the Syrians of their most basic needs.

Al-Mikdad indicated that Washington continues to support terrorist organizations and separatist militias that plunder Syrian wealth in the Al-Jazira region, and together with Turkey, have deprived the people of Hasakah of water for months, in a crime against humanity.

Al-Mikdad indicated that the United States wants the Al-Tanf region, which it occupies, to be a center for terrorist organizations so that it can send them in this direction or that against the will of the people, as they rotate these tools from one region to another, from Syria to Afghanistan to Pakistan and Africa in the service of their agendas, and with the aim of controlling the world.

Al-Mikdad expressed Syria’s satisfaction with developments in the region, as effective diplomacy between its countries promises good results for its peoples, and whoever seeks to obstruct these efforts must know that the Arab people are fed up with the authoritarian American practices that seek to continue the Zionist occupation of Arab lands, and to cover up its continuous aggressions and crimes against the Palestinian people.

He stated that what the occupation entity is witnessing indicates the depth of its crises, which it is trying to export by escalating its attacks on the Palestinians, and expanding settlements to implement colonial annexation schemes.

Al-Mikdad reiterated Syria’s condemnation of the war crimes and crimes against humanity that the occupation  is committing, which since the beginning of this year has resulted in the death of more than 200 Palestinians and the wounding of thousands.

Al-Mikdad pointed out that the occupation’s criminal practices are not limited to the Palestinian people, rather, they also target the people in the occupied Syrian Golan, whom we salute for their struggle and their insistence on adherence to their homeland and their Syrian Arab identity.

The Syrian top diplomat also said that “the situation in northern and northeastern Syria is not good, as there is direct American aggression of parts of Syrian land, and there is also the Turkish forces that occupy part of our land. We want to say that there is no enmity between us and the Turkish people, but we affirm that any illegal foreign force must leave our land so that there will be normal relations between the Syrian and Turkish peoples.”

In response to a question about the United States’ attempts to obstruct Syrian-Arab relations, Al-Mikdad said: After Syria joined the Arab efforts during the Jeddah Summit, the West and the United States became hysterical, and they condemned the Arab countries for their decisions as if the Americans were members of the League.

For his part, Abdullahian said: One of our common priorities is to follow up on the agreements reached during President Raisi’s visit to Damascus, and we have witnessed progress in implementing economic, trade and technological agreements, and they have been reviewed in accordance with the interests of the two countries, and work is currently underway to implement the agreement on commercial dealing in the national currency of the two countries.

Abdullahian added: We agreed on many projects and agreements related to ports and communications, and other topics on the joint agenda of the two countries.

Abdullahian stressed that Iran will continue its efforts and support to achieve stability in the region and will keep supporting the right of the Syrian people to defend the independence and sovereignty of their country.

The Iranian minister noted that stability in Syria will not be achieved without stopping the interference of foreign countries, the return of refugees, and the lifting of unilateral Western measures.

 He renewed Iran’s condemnation of the repeated attacks of the Zionist entity on Syrian territory, pointing out that this entity is the main source of instability and insecurity in the region.

 Regarding the return of relations between Syria and Turkey to normal, Abdullahian said: “We believe that the framework of the quadripartite meeting is the most appropriate diplomatic track for reaching an agreement and for the establishment of security on the common borders of Syria and Turkey.
O.M/ Inas Abdulkareem