Middle East
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian being received by his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad at Damascus airport on July 2, 2022. Photo: IRNA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The repeated Israeli aggressions on Syria are part of an attempt to destabilize the country, Iran's foreign minister said on Saturday in a landmark visit to his regional ally where he discussed boosting bilateral ties with Damascus.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Damascus on Saturday and met with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, calling the visit a "great opportunity" to improve ties between Tehran and Damascus and stand strong in condemnation of Israel, Iranian state media reported.
"Iran strongly condemns the attempts of the Zionist regime and their aggression on the territorial integrity of Syria," he said, blaming Jerusalem for attempting to "destabilize and increase the problems of the people who are returning to their cities and homes in Syria along with the sanctions imposed against the Syrians."
An Israeli airstrike in Syria’s western Al-Hamidiyah town on Saturday wounded two civilians, Syria’s defense ministry claimed. However, Israel has not confirmed the attack.
The bombed facility had previously been used to raise farm animals but was later used by Shiite militia Hezbollah to store its weapons, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor.
Mekdad reiterated the importance of the bilateral relations, saying "the two countries hold continuous and close consultations about all developments" as he expressed support for Iran with regards to their ongoing nuclear file.
Iran and world powers, including the US, have held talks for over a year aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with Iran insisting that the US must lift its crippling sanctions, including those on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and to provide a guarantee that future US administrations will not be able to withdraw from the deal.
The accord offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for the curtailment of its nuclear program. Former US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and imposed biting sanctions on Tehran.
US President Joe Biden is embarking upon the process of rolling back on his former's withdrawal, as he attempts to return to the deal. However, talks have yielded little fruition.
Iran and the US engaged in two-day long indirect talks that started on Tuesday in Doha aimed at reviving the deal. The US said the talks made "no progress."
The Iranian FM commended Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's visit to Tehran in May, calling it a "turning point" in bilateral ties between the two countries.
Another topic discussed in the visit was Turkey's threats of launching a military operation in northern Syria, threats which Abdollahian said Tehran "understands" yet "strongly opposes any military attempts with any justification," instead calling for dialogue and diplomacy between Damascus and Ankara in resolving existing misunderstandings.
In late May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey would soon launch a new military operation into northern Syria to create a 30-kilometer "safe zone" along its southern border. The operation is aimed at pushing back Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) from the area, a group that Ankara views as the extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a designated terrorist organization in Turkey that struggles for the increased rights of Kurds through armed warfare.
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