Assad Calls for Iran-Syria Cooperation to Counter 'Western Economic War'

The Syrian President stated that the agreements and cooperation plans signed this week between his country and Iran have 'strategic importance' and 'strengthen the resistance and resilience of both countries against the economic war of some Western countries.' According to SANA, the official Syrian news agency, these remarks by Bashar Assad were made on Tuesday, February 9, during a meeting with Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Iran. Mr. Jahangiri has been in Damascus since Monday leading a delegation of senior government officials and private industry representatives from Iran. Concurrently with the presence of the Iranian Vice President in Syria, a business conference between the two countries was inaugurated on Tuesday with representatives from Iranian and Syrian companies. Prior to the meeting with Bashar Assad, Mr. Jahangiri signed 11 long-term economic agreements during a meeting with Imad Khamis, the Prime Minister of Syria, at the 14th meeting of the Joint Supreme Council of the two countries. In a joint press conference with the Syrian Prime Minister, Eshaq Jahangiri stated, 'Iran will stand by the Syrian government and people during the reconstruction of Syria, and the joint economic summit of the two countries conveyed the message that Syria has entered a new phase and efforts must be made for the reconstruction of this country.' Bashar Assad, in his meeting with Eshaq Jahangiri, referred to these agreements and other Iran-Syria collaborations, saying, 'Joint efforts must be increased so that countries that seek to weaken our countries do not find this opportunity.' Tehran and Damascus, which have been allies and loyal to each other for the past 40 years and describe this alliance as part of the 'resistance axis' against Israel and its supporters, are facing sanctions and regional and international pressures. The Assad government, after an eight-year war, has recently returned to relative stability with extensive assistance from Iran, Hezbollah, and other Tehran allies, as well as support from Russia, and has begun reconstruction plans after regaining control over about two-thirds of Syrian territory. The Iranian Vice President announced a 'significant' banking agreement with Syria. Many Arab countries that had tense relations with Syria over the past eight years have recently reopened their embassies in Damascus one after another, emphasizing their search for economic opportunities from the reconstruction period in Syria; a situation that has greatly concerned Iran. Several Iranian officials have recently expressed dissatisfaction, either implicitly or explicitly, that Syria is handing over profitable projects to other countries, including Russia, and that Iran's private sector is gaining the least benefit from Syria's reconstruction. Iranian newspapers have also complained about 'Iran being left empty-handed' during Syria's reconstruction. This dissatisfaction was also raised in the recent remarks of a senior Iranian parliamentary official. According to the House of the People, the Iranian Parliament news agency, Hoshmatollah Falahatpisheh, Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, two weeks ago during a meeting with the Syrian Prime Minister in Damascus stated that Iran's assistance to Syria has been a 'right of the people' and 'must be settled in relations between Tehran and Damascus.' Mr. Falahatpisheh added, 'During Syria's isolation, Iran did not spare any assistance to defeat Syria's enemies; these aids could not have been possible without the liberation of credit and financial lines... but unfortunately, we are dissatisfied with wasted opportunities and lack of action in the implementation area.' The Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission listed actions that the Syrian government must take to remove obstacles to cooperation from Iranian companies, stating that Syria has provided land for agriculture to Iranian companies but has not granted water rights for these lands; Iran is also facing problems in exploiting oil fields in Syria, and Iranian ships are facing obstacles in docking at the port of Tartus, which the Syrian government must resolve. Imad Khamis, the Syrian Prime Minister, also mentioned during his meeting with Hoshmatollah Falahatpisheh that 'part of these problems lies with the Iranian side, and some of the wasted opportunities also relate to the Iranians themselves.' However, in his meeting with the Iranian Vice President, he promised to resolve these issues. According to SANA, Mr. Khamis committed during his meeting with Eshaq Jahangiri that Syria would allow Iranian companies to participate in the construction of 'hundreds of thousands of housing units, port development, agriculture, and mobile telecommunications' and that 'the problems of Iranian companies that had invested in Syria in previous years would be resolved.' Iran and Syria also have a military pact that was renewed during the visit of Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, to Damascus in late October of last year. According to Tasnim, Walid Moallem, the Syrian Foreign Minister, said on Tuesday during a meeting with the senior Iranian government delegation that Damascus requests Iran to 'stay alongside the Syrian government and people until the final victory over the enemies and the reconstruction of the country.' The trips of the Iranian Vice President and the Iranian Parliament delegation to Syria coincide with an escalation of Israeli attacks on 'Iranian targets and Iran's allies in Syria.' The Israeli army stated last week that it has entered into war with the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Syria. Israel, disregarding Iran's presence in Syria based on legal agreements between Tehran and Damascus, claims it will not allow the stabilization of Iran's military presence in Syria and will attack Iranian targets in Syria 'for as long as necessary.' Iranian and Syrian officials have not stated what measures they have considered to protect Iranian personnel against the potential threat of attacks by Israel with the expansion of Iranian private sector cooperation during Syria's reconstruction. While Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, has stated that his country is intensifying attacks on Iranian interests in Syria, there is a potential risk that, in addition to Iranian military personnel and their regional allies, Iranian projects and the Iranian executors of these projects in Syria may also be targeted.