Ahmadinejad is pleased with Mecca accord

Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Tehran on Saturday to discuss the situation in the Middle East and bilateral cooperation, Iranian state-run news agency IRNA reported.

"At the meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Iranian president said he was pleased with the agreement between the Hamas and Fatah factions," announced the office of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Saturday.

The Iranian president added that Israel's defeat in Lebanon and the America's failure in Iraq demonstrate their ever-growing weakness.

Assad referred to attempts of Israel and the US to damage the standing of Iran and Syria by bringing up Lebanon and Palestinian issue, and said that people should be aware of the mal intentions of these two countries.

This is Assad's fifth visit to Iran since he took office in 2000, and his second since the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a year and a half ago.  He was accompanied by Vice President Farouk al-Shara and Foreign Minister Walid Moualem.  

Assad and Ahmadinejad (Photo: AFP)

"The trip of the Syrian delegation is taking place within the framework of periodical exchange of visits between the officials of the two countries," the IRNA said, but noted that "current developments in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon give the tour a two-fold significance."

During his stay in Tehran, Assad is scheduled to confer with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on matters of mutual interest, as well as with President Ahmadinejad.

The United States have repeatedly accused Iran and Syria of not doing enough to stop militants from crossing from their countries into Iraq to join the insurgency. Both have rejected the charges.

Trade relations 

Also Saturday, other Syrian and Iranian officials met to discuss trade issues, particularly national duty-free zones.

Head of Syria's Free Zones Ahmad Abdel-Aziz met with the secretary of Iran's Free Zones Supreme Council, Mahmoud Salahi, to receive Iranian expertise on the matter, the IRNA said.

At the meeting, Abdel-Aziz called for advancement of the agreement signed between the two countries on establishment of joint trade-industrial free zone.  He officially invited the secretary and other officials of Iran's Free Trade Zone Supreme Council to visit his Syrian free zones.

Salahi welcomed the Syrian proposals and said that the idea of establishment of Iran-Syria trade-industrial free zone can be pursued within the framework of joint economic commissions, which can strengthen mutual ties.

During the past ten years, Syria and Iran have fostered strong economic ties.  Iranian companies have invested more than $700 million in Syria, in sectors such as power generation, automobiles, cement and agriculture.

AP contributed to this report