Islam Times - Assad’s Tehran Visit Sends Messages of Stronger Unity

Islam Times - Nearly two weeks after the crash of helicopter carrying Iranian President Seyyed Ibrahim Raisi and a number of other officials including the Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, condolences from senior regional officials keep pouring in to Iranian nation and government. Though senior Syrian officials joined the funeral procession last week in Tehran, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad preferred to visit Iran in person to express his sympathy with Iranian officials. He arrived in Tehran on Thursday and met with Iranian officials.

Receiving the Syrian president and his delegation, Iran's Supreme Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei described the resistance as the privileged identity of Syria, saying: "Syria's special position in the region is privileged because of this identity, and this important feature must be preserved."

Ayatollah Khamenei described further boost of ties between Iran and Syria as important in terms of the fact that the two nations are the pillars of Axis of Resistance.

"Syria's privileged identity, which is resistance, was formed during the time of the late President Hafez al-Assad and with the establishment of the resistance and persistence front, and this identity has always contributed to the national unity of Syria."

Stressing the need for this identity to be preserved, the Leader said: " The Westerners and their henchmen in the region planned to overthrow the political system of this country and remove Syria from the equations of the region with the war they imposed on Syria, but they did not succeed, and now they plan to use other ways, including the promises they never fulfill, to drive Syria out of regional equations."

Praising al-Assad's firm standing in the face of pressures and conspiracies during the terrorism war, Ayatollah Khamenei maintained: " Everyone should see the special privilege of the Syrian government, that is, the resistance, in front of their eyes." He further pointed to the political and economic pressures by the US and Europe on Iran and Syria, saying that the two nations must overcome these conditions by improving cooperation and systemetize it.

Referring to the late President Raisi's consistent readiness to expand ties between the two allies in various areas, the Leader held that the vice president Mohammad Mokhber who enjoys full presidential powers pursues the same approach and "we hope that everything goes on in its best way."

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution criticized the positions and inaction of some regional countries regarding Gaza war. He pointed to the recent meeting of Arab leaders in Manama, saying : "In this meeting, many shortcomings were made towards Palestine and Gaza, but some countries also acted well." Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the Islamic Republic's view of the future is positive and bright, hoping that all can fulfill their duty and reach this bright future.

For his part, the Syrian president expressed his condolences to the Leader, the government, and the nation, adding that the relations between Iran and Syria are strategic and "progressing under the guidance of Your Excellency, and Mr. Raisi and Mr. Amir-Abdollahian were at the top of the implementation of [your] guidance."

Pointing to the humble, wise and ethical personality of President Raisi, the Syrian president called him a clear example of the positions and slogans of the Islamic Revolution.

"Mr. Raisi had an important impact on the role of the Islamic Republic in regional affairs and the issue of Palestine in the past three years, as well as deepening relations between Iran and Syria," al-Assad said.

"After over 50 years, the discourse of resistance has made progress and now changed into a political and ideological approach," al-Assad said.

The Syrian leader noted that Syria thinks that any retreat against the West will make the latter advance. He went on: "I announced a few years ago that the cost of resistance is lower than the cost of surrender, and this issue is now very clear for the Syrian people, and the recent developments in Gaza and the victories of the resistance proved this issue for the people of the region and showed that resistance is a principle."

Al-Assad thanked and appreciated the Leader of Islamic Revolution for his distinguished and important role in supporting the resistance in the region and also for supporting Syria in all fields. After al-Assad's words , the Leader said: "Your words had important points, but one point was more important to me, and that is the issue you stressed on; that the more we move back, the more the opposite side will move ahead. There is not doubt in this and it has been our slogan over the past 40 years."

Consolidating Tehran-Damascus relations

Iran and Syria have already had strong ties for a long time and they have become very intertwined in the last decade, and al-Assad's visit to Tehran is of great importance at a time when the region is destabilized because of the policies of the Israeli occupation and its Western backers.

This visit comes at a time regional pressures are mounted on Syria to persuade it to forsake its alignment with the Axis of Resistance's wings in developments following the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. However, the stances of the Syrian leader showed that Damascus continues to maintain its close ties Iran and the Resistance camp and the hostile positions of the foreign actors cannot disturb this vigorous alliance.

Even in the recent meeting of the Arab League in Bahrain that published a closing statement with anti-Iranian terms and claims about three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf, some believed that al-Assad signed it, but later it became clear that the Syrian president stressed on his reservations in this statement, though such statements cannot harm the deep-rooted relations of Tehran and Damascus. Actually, the media mischief of foreign sides tried to claim that al-Assad is no longer an ally of Iran and is breaking with the Axis of Resistance, but his visit to Tehran invalidated this propaganda.

The government and people of Syria have never forgotten the services of the Islamic Republic during the internal crisis of this country, and they have always mentioned Iran as a brotherly and allied country that has helped a lot in repelling the terrorists. The broad and warm welcome of the Syrian people to President Raisi last year proved that the Syrians are grateful to Iran and that the relations between the two nations are at their highest level.

In recent months and as Gaza war unfolded, some media outlets described the passiveness of the Syrian government regarding the Israeli crimes in Gaza and the West Bank as a sort of Syria’s divergence from the Axis of Resistance. But al-Assad's remarks in Tehran proved that Damascus is an inseparable part of the Resistance camp. Contrary to the US and Israel that think by waging war on Gaza they can undermine the Axis of Resistance in the region, as the Israeli genocide continues in Gaza, the Resistance camp gains further popularity not just regionally but worldwide and the efforts to deter it will go nowhere.

Gaza war made resistance wings in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon more united than ever and the "unity of fronts"— a theory which suggests that all wings of the Resistance camp respond when one of them is attacked— has dealt a heavy blow to the Israeli-Western front, and therefore Syria will never quit its camp. After all, past experiences have shown to Syria that the Westerners and Arabs are not reliable and their empty promises will not settle any problems of the Syrians.

But on the other side, Iran has shown that it stands by Syria without political and economic expectations and does not follow an exigent and non-collaborative approach towards its allies. So, their bilateral relations will press ahead powerfully within the framework of a strategic alliance.