Iran Welcome Syria Ties With Arabs; Says Tehran’s Nuclear Deal Close

The foreign ministers of Iran and Syria welcomed there conciliation approach by the Arabs toward Syria during a meeting in Damascus on Wednesday.

Faisal Mekdad, Syria’s foreign minister, and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, discussed various issues on Wednesday. Both are allies of Russia. They discussed the war in Ukraine and other developments. Reportedly, Syria’s top diplomat said Moscow is defending its people.

Amir-Abdollahian held talks with President Bashar Assad, Mekdad and top security official Major General Ali Mamlouk. Later on, Faisal Mekdad spoke to reporters in Damascus about the meeting.

Amir-Abdollahian said, “We welcome and we are satisfied with what some Arab countries are doing by normalizing relations with Syria.” Amir-Abdollahian also said that Iran is close to reaching an agreement on its nuclear deal with world powers. He discussed the latest developments in Iran’s negotiations to restore Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. The Iranian official said he believes that Tehran is close to reaching an agreement over its nuclear program.

Iran is a strong ally of the Syrian president. Iran has sent thousands of fighters from around the region to help Syrian government forces fight against opponents in the 11-year Syrian conflict. Russia also supported the Syrian government during the war. Russia helped Assad’s forces regain control of much of the country. The war has killed nearly half a million people.

Nuclear negotiations nearly reached completion earlier this month. However, Russia’s demand jeopardized the talk again. Moscow demanded that its trade with Iran be exempted from Western sanctions over Ukraine.

The negotiations about the nuclear deal began last April between Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia, with the United States (US) taking part indirectly. Under the agreement, Iran said to limit its nuclear activity to civilian purposes, and in return, western countries agreed to drop their economic sanctions against Iran.