Syria-Iran relations ‘strategic,’ based on ‘truth’

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad described Iran-Syria relations as strategic, saying the ties are based on truth and consultation in all fields.
Speaking to reporters following his meeting with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian in Moscow on Monday, Mekdad noted, “We discussed issues related to the planned Geneva peace talks, bilateral relations and the latest developments regarding the Syrian and the Iranian issues.”
Accroding to SANA news agency, he stressed that viewpoints were identical between Syria and Iran in the face of the regional developments.
He added that the enemies of the two countries are the same, whether “they were the French, the Saudi government or the Israeli regime.”
The Syrian official noted that Israel is the main beneficiary of escalating the tensions in the region and hampering the peaceful solution through Geneva Conference.
“Our presence here in Moscow is evidence of joint coordination between us, the Islamic Republic of Iran and our friends in the Russian Federation,” Mekdad said.
The Iranian deputy foreign minister, for his part, said that “we have held talks with the Syrian friends and discussed the political solution to the crisis in Syria and Geneva 2 conference, in addition to the extremist terrorist groups which are supplied with weapons and money to carry out terrorist acts against the Syrian people.”
“We laid emphasis on the necessity of finding political solution to the crisis through Syrian-Syrian dialogue and we insist, as the Russians do, on solving all issues through political and diplomatic means only,” he added.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.
According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in the violence.
The UN recently warned against the humanitarian situation in Syria, saying that over nine million people are in need of urgent aid due to the crisis in the Middle Eastern country.