New agreements to pave the way for Iran to get involved in Syria’s reconstruction

Tabnak – Syrian government’s key ally in its eight years of fighting the rebel and terrorist groups, Iran is now eying a role in the post-war reconstruction of the Arab country through initiating a number of economic agreements with Damascus. The recent visit of Iran’s vice president to Syria was done primarily with the same aim.

According to the Iranian and Syrian new agencies, high-ranking officials from Iran and Syria inked 11 agreements, including memorandums of understanding (MoUs), in a bid to boost cooperation between the two countries in diverse areas.

The documents were signed during a meeting between Iranian First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri and Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis in Damascus. Nine MoUs were signed by Iranian and Syrian officials in the presence of Jahangiri and Khamis and the two also signed a cooperation agreement and a MoU.

The documents cover a wide range of cooperation areas, including mapping, cinema, education, combating money laundering and terrorist financing, rail transport, housing and public utilities, and culture.

Detailing the agreements, Jahangiri said the two sides had come to "very important agreements on banking cooperation." Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis also announced that the countries had inked a "unique" agreement enabling long-term economic cooperation.

The Iranian official also noted that the Islamic Republic will be contributing to repairing of power stations throughout Syria and set up a new such facility in the northwestern Syrian Latakia province.

"We will be by Syria's side in the reconstruction phase as we have been by its side in fighting terrorism," Jahangiri said. He was referring to the military advisory support, which the Islamic Republic has been lending Syria since 2011, when the Arab nation found itself in the grip of rampant foreign-backed militancy.

Separately, in a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Tuesday, Jahangiri lauded the Syrian government and nation for the victory against terrorist groups, saying the world security relies on the security in the Middle East.

Had Daesh (ISIS) forces established a state in the region with persistent terrorist cells, the Westerners would have faced terror, violence, and inhumane crimes in their own countries, Jahangiri said, contending that the West should be thankful for Syria and the other countries at the forefront of war on terrorism.

Stressing the need for closer trade ties between Tehran and Damascus, the vice president said an agreement on strategic economic cooperation would contribute to better implementation of the contracts between the two allies.

Heading a diplomatic and business delegation, the Iranian vice president has travelled to Syria to coordinate plans for cooperation with the Arab country, which is recovering from years of war and foreign-backed militancy.

In September 2017, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York that Iran would assist the Syrian nation in reconstructing their country after the war, in the same way that it contributed to the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Arab state amid the crisis.