According to the Syrian Arab News Agency 'SANA', President Bashar al-Assad made the remarks in a meeting with the visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the accompanying delegation in Damascus on Tuesday.
During the meeting, President al-Assad reiterated Syria’s denouncement of the irresponsible US action against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, saying that it is part of erroneous US policies that constitute a main factor in instability in the region.
President al-Assad expressed heartfelt condolences to the Iranian people and the families of the victims of the recent floods that affected a number of Iranian provinces recently.
The two sides exchanged opinions on regional developments, with President al-Assad asserting that adhering to national principles and positions and making the people’s interests a priority are enough to protect any country, preserve its unity, and confront any foreign conspiracies.
For his part, Zarif denounced the US administration’s decision regarding the occupied Syrian Golan, saying that this decision cannot be separated from its decisions on al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the Revolutionary Guard, and that these decisions are a sign of the failure of Washington’s policies in the region.
The top Iranian diplomat also said that developments in the region prove the need for enhancing coordination between the two sides on all levels to benefit the two countries and enhance security and stability in the region.
President al-Assad and Zarif asserted that the policies of the US and some Western states will not dissuade Syria and Iran and their allies from defending the rights and interests of their peoples, SANA's report added.
The two sides not that the West, particularly the United States, should resort to diplomacy instead of waging warriors and employing economic terrorism against those who disagree with them.
The meeting touched on the next round of Astana talks, while the talks also dealt with the agreements between the two sides, joint projects, their stages of implementation, and the difficulties facing them, as well as expanding cooperation in the future.
Zarif and his accompanying delegation arrived in Damascus on Tuesday morning and in addition to meeting with President Assad, they also met with Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem, during which the two top diplomats discussed the importance of enhancing the strategic relations between the two countries in all fields, according to SANA.
SANA added that the two foreign ministers also discussed developments in Syria and the region, with the two sides’ expressing matching viewpoints regarding all the issues that were discussed.
KI/SANA