President Al-Assad to Kharrazi: This stage necessitates strategic work among region’s countries

DAMASCUS, Mar.21, (ST)- President Bashar Al-Assad on Tuesday received the Head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Kamal Kharrazi and the accompanying delegation.

The talks during the meeting dealt with a number of intellectual and political issues, as well as the developments and changes taking place in the world.

President Al-Assad said that at this stage of accelerating changes, it is normal for our countries to have some losses and negative outcomes ,but the long term result of these changes will be in our interest thanks to the resilience of our peoples and the grave mistakes of US-western polices.

“This stage necessitates intensified dialogue and strategic work among countries of the region because the West, especially during the current time, will perhaps be more hostile and try to use all tools it possesses inside our societies, and this requires from countries of the region to precisely deal with the internal situation and boost belonging,” President Al-Assad said.

For his part, Kharrazi, said that in light of the quick developments in the world, the regional states have to acquire a clear vision for future to protect their interests, and this requires integration and intensifying meetings and dialogue among officials, diplomats and intellectuals, referring to the restoration of ties between Tehran and Riyadh and the enhancement of Arab countries’ ties with Syria.
President al-Assad and Kharrazi also held talks on the issue of identity, belonging and their connection to religion.

The president said that the depth of identity must be researched, because hostile parties are trying to target identity and belonging.

He clarified that the West has put the young generation before two options. The first one is to be a religious extremist, and the second one is to be without morals. Therefore, the challenge before our countries is to create a third option for the young generation based on preserving identity, culture and belonging.

Basma Qaddour