Al-Assad in Tehran to discuss Iraqi and Palestine files
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Tehran on Sunday leading a Syrian delegation to discuss the Iraqi file and the security threats the two countries are facing in light of instability in Iraq as well as developments in the Palestinian territories.
Al-Assad started his talks by meeting with the his Iranian peer Muhammad Khatami and the two presidents discussed strategic issues, especially the political future of Iraq, the Palestinian question and the implications of what is called the Greater Middle East project proposed by Washington.
Al-Assad is due to meet today with the spiritual guide of the Iranian revolution Ayatullah Ali Khameni and also with the chairman of the Republic expediency Hashemi Rafsanjani. Al-Assad is accompanies by his vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam and his foreign minister Farouk al-Shara.
Al-Assad arrived in Tehran earlier in the day in a two-day official visit, according to the Iranian official news Agency IRNA.
Al-Assad paid a very short visit to Tehran in February 2003 a short time before the coalition forces launching of the war led by the US on Iraq. For his part, the Iranian President Khatami visited Damascus in May 2003.
