MP Calls on Syrian Speaker

The Parliament  is keen on developing legislative cooperation with the People's Assembly of Syria, a lawmaker said.

Mostafa Kavakebian, a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, made the remark in a meeting with the Speaker of the People’s Assembly Hammoudeh Sabbagh in Damascus on Monday, Mehr News Agency reported.

Congratulating the Syrian Army over the victories against the terrorist organizations, the MP said “Iran’s Parliament is willing to enhance and develop parliamentary relations with the People's Assembly in Syria.”

Sabbagh, for his part, said that two-way relations are strong and deep, affirming the need for further boosting ties, particularly parliamentary relations in the interest of the two peoples.

Sabbagh indicated that Syria and Iran stand “in the same trench” facing the Zionist-American projects, stressing that Iran will be a key partner of the Arab state during the post-war reconstruction era.

  Defense Minister Visits Aleppo

In unrelated news, Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami on Tuesday toured Syria’s northern city of Aleppo and was briefed on efforts to cleanse the war-torn city of terrorist groups, Tasnim News Agency reported.

Accompanied by a group of Syrian military commanders, the minister visited Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city which was recaptured from terrorist groups by the Syrian Army in December 2016.

Hatami also held talks with the Syrian troops and the voluntary forces fighting the terrorists and was briefed on plans to cleanse the city of remnants of the terrorist groups and establish full security in the war-ravaged city.

The minister arrived in Syria Sunday for meetings on ways to promote bilateral military cooperation and coordinate the fight against terrorism.

Since the outbreak of war and the insurgency in Syria in 2011, Iran has stood by the Syrian government and supported its people against terrorist groups, including the self-styled Islamic State (Daesh).

In recent months, the Syrian Army managed to liberate many of the areas occupied by the terrorists and their local and foreign backers and has begun the costly process of post-war reconstruction.