The event was attended by senior officials from both sides including ICCIMA Head Gholam-Hossein Shafeie, Syrian Ambassador to Tehran Shafiq Dayoub, Head of Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce Keyvan Kashefi, Secretary of Iran-Syria Economic Relations Development Headquarters Abbas Akbari, Head of the Syrian-Iranian Joint Chamber of Commerce Fahd Mahmoud Darwish, and President of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce Mohamed Abou El-Hoda El-Lahham.

Opening the ceremony, ICCIMA Head Shafeie welcomed the Syrian delegation to Iran and expressed satisfaction with the holding of such events as a prerequisite for the expansion of economic ties between the two friendly countries.

He pointed to his visit to Syria in November 2021 and noted that since then several positive steps have been taken by the two sides for removing barriers in the way of trade relations.

“Our efforts are aimed at increasing the level of economic exchanges between the two countries to the level of political relations,” Shafeie stressed.

Although over the past few years the conditions have been improved for the development of the relations between the two sides, there is still a long way ahead to reaching the desired economic relations, he said.

Drawing a roadmap for economic cooperation

The official called on the governments of the two countries to take practical steps in order to resolve the issues that the traders of the two sides are currently facing and said: “In order to develop economic exchanges we need to create a comprehensive roadmap to clear the outlook of economic cooperation between the two countries.”

“Our plan is to increase the level of mutual trade to $1 billion in the first phase, and realizing this goal requires the strong presence of the Iranian private sector in Syrian markets,” he said.

The ICCIMA head further made some suggestions for increasing the level of trade between the two countries under the framework of the mentioned roadmap.

According to Shafeie the priority for interactions between the private sectors of Iran and Syria should be the reconstruction of Syria’s infrastructure.

Cooperation in areas like industry and agriculture, close collaboration between the two countries’ chambers of commerce, extraterrestrial cultivation, holding joint exhibitions, and exchanging delegations were among the suggestions for boosting trade ties between the two nations.

Iranian private sector ready to take part in Syrian projects

Shafeie further expressed the Iranian private sector’s readiness for participation in major infrastructure projects in Syria and noted that Iranian companies are ready to collaborate with their Syrian counterparts and also with the Syrian government in all areas including infrastructure, industry, agriculture, establishing joint ventures, exports of technical and engineering services, etc.

Tehran, Damascus should join hands to nullify sanctions

Further in the forum, Syrian Ambassador to Tehran Shafiq Dayoub delivered a speech, in which he stressed Iran and Syria’s great political relations and the determination of the two country’s leaders for expanding relations in other areas like trade as well.

He mentioned the long history of relations between the two countries and said Iran and Syria have been friends for so long and now that both nations are facing unjust sanctions, they must join hands to neutralize these sanctions.

He welcomed Shafeie’s suggestion for creating a practical roadmap for the expansion of trade ties between the two countries and said: “We hope that the outcomes of this business forum would be documented in the form of a general roadmap for boosting economic relations between the two sides.”

Syria welcomes Iranian private sector in all areas

Elsewhere in his remarks, Dayoub noted that the Syrian government welcomes the participation of Iranian companies in all areas and will take all the necessary measures to remove the obstacles and facilitate their activities in the Syrian market.

“We are ready to cooperate with the Iranian private sector to find solutions for removing barriers and neutralizing the impacts of the U.S. sanctions,” he said.

Syria’s new trade-related regulations and laws provide a great basis for the activities of the Iranian companies in the country, so Iranian companies active in various areas can participate in projects like transportation, infrastructure, power plants, transit, maritime, etc.

Need for turning theory into practice

Secretary of Iran-Syria Economic Relations Development Headquarters Abbas Akbari for his part emphasized the need for turning such theoretical solutions and ideas into practice and said: “Over the past few years we have signed numerous agreements and memorandums of understanding, however in practice not much has been done.”

The necessary infrastructure for increasing trade between the two countries has not been provided yet and Iranian traders and businessmen are facing numerous problems with their activities in Syria.

One major problem is the imbalance of imports and exports and the lack of enough foreign currency in Syria for settling Iranian export dues.

“There is not enough foreign currency (mainly U.S. dollar and Euro) in Syria to pay for Iranian exports and also Syria does not have much to export to Iran in return (under barter trade mechanisms),” Akbari regretted.

So, the main solution to this problem is for the Iranian and Syrian private sectors to establish joint production units in order to produce new products in Syria and then export it to third countries and earn the needed foreign revenues, he suggested.

Iran, Syria trade should not be limited to bartering

Before attending the business forum, Shafeie had also held a meeting with the Syrian delegation in which he said: “The chambers of commerce of the two countries need to formulate a long-term strategic plan for the development of economic relations, and the problems in the field of transportation and customs tariffs should be taken into account in this regard.”

The two sides stressed that the trade relations between the two countries should go beyond only bartering goods.

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The meeting focused on facilitating barter trade between the two countries, supply of goods and products required by the two countries within the framework of the free trade agreement between the two sides, and using the capacities of the two countries’ private sectors to develop trade cooperation.

As reported by the portal of the Transport Ministry, Eslami, who is the head of the two countries’ Joint Economic Committee, arrived in Damascus on Wednesday for a four-day visit during which he was scheduled to hold talks with senior Syrian officials including Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous.

Upon arrival, Eslami was welcomed by the Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Mohammad Samer al-Khalil.

“Iran and Syria have put the development of bilateral cooperation on their agenda, especially in the field of construction and development projects,” Eslami said in Damascus.

Iran and Syria have been taking major steps for the expansion of their mutual trade ties. The two sides have exchanged numerous trade delegations in the past two years and Iranian private companies are investing in various fields of the Syrian economy like providing construction materials especially cement and working on several reconstruction projects.

Syria has repeatedly stressed that Iranian companies are the country’s top priority for implementing reconstruction projects.

Back in May, the chairman of Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce said that trade is rising between the two countries.

Keyvan Kashefi said that currently, Syria is moving towards reconstruction, and items in the fields of construction, bridge and dam building, electricity supply, and technical and engineering services are at the top of Iran’s list of exports to this country.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – President Bashar al-Assad said the countries hostile to the Syrian people are still trying to protect terrorists who take civilians as hostages and human shields, stressing that this cannot be allowed to continue.

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Foreign Minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a meeting with visiting United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, voiced Tehran’s readiness to cooperate within the framework of respecting Syria sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity to resolve the Arab country’s crisis.

Zarif noted that a political solution would be the only way to resolve the crisis in Syria which has been fighting foreign-backed terrorists since 2011.

The UN envoy, for his part, briefed the top Iranian diplomat on his stance regarding the political process in Syria and issues of common interest.

The meeting comes as Syrian government forces are advancing against foreign-backed terrorists in the northwestern Idlib Province, tightening the noose around the extremists in their last major stronghold.

Idlib and the area north of Aleppo Province form part of the only large territory in the hands of terrorists after the Syrian military managed to vanquish the foreign-backed terrorists across the country and bring back almost all of the Syrian soil under government control.

In recent days, tensions have escalated between Syria and Turkey in the terrorist-held province of Idlib.

Earlier in the day, the UN official held a separate meeting with Iran’s foreign minister’s top advisor in political affairs, Ali Asghar Khaji, who said Tehran is ready to help Turkey and Syria resolve their disputes.

“During the meeting, Iran reiterated that civilians in Syria should not be used as human shields … and that Iran is ready to mediate between Turkey and Syria to solve the issue,” the Foreign Ministry’s official website reported.

Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi also said on Thursday that Tehran as one of the guarantors of the Astana process is ready to do its best to settle the conflicts between Turkey and Syria in Idlib Province.

Takht-Ravanchi made the remarks at an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Idlib, IRNA reported.

Pointing to Iran’s unwavering determination in the campaign against terrorism, the ambassador warned against the dire situation in Idlib, stressing that the crisis in Syria’s northwestern province should not get out of control.

“We should not allow the terrorists to stabilize their positions in Idlib, or more civilians will be killed”, he said.

“Situation in the region is worrisome, so, we must try to prevent the crisis from being uncontrollable.”

On Thursday, Damascus denounced the near-simultaneous deployment of Turkish military forces to Syria’s Idlib.

Turkey has sent nearly 150 vehicles with commandos and ammunition to bolster its observation outposts in Idlib, where an intensified offensive is underway by the Syrian Army forces against foreign-backed terrorist outfits.

A Turkish security source said they were only to reinforce the 12 existing posts established under a 2018 deal with Russia, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported Friday.

Under a deal between Ankara, Moscow, and Tehran aimed at reducing violence, Turkey agreed to set up a dozen observation posts in Idlib and neighboring provinces.

Despite Ankara’s commitments under the agreement, a number of Russian troops were recently killed during attacks launched by militants from Turkey’s de-escalation zone in Idlib.

Turkey and Russia have worked closely in recent years to resolve the situation in Idlib despite being on opposing sides of the conflict.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Minister of Science, Research and Technology Mohsen Haji Mirzaei expressed that Iran is ready to cooperate with Syria in reconstruction educational centers in the war-torn country.

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“The Syrian Arab Republic announces its full solidarity with the brotherly people of Iran in what they are facing, and it affirms Iran’s right to defend itself in the face of the US threats and attacks,” official news agency of Syria, SANA quoted an unnamed official source at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said on Wednesday. Iran News quotes report by PressTV.

“Syria at the same time holds the US administration responsible for all the developments that are taking shape due to the latter’s reckless policy and arrogant mentality. Such a policy governs US acts that could be best described as those of gangs rather than states,” the source pointed out.

He added Washington should learn how to abandon its approach of subjugation and attempts to impose its hegemony on others.

The Syrian foreign ministry concluded, “The Syrian Arab Republic affirms that free states reserve the right to respond to any act of aggression against them in whatever manner they find suitable.

“The US should learn how to give up its approach of subjugating others and imposing its hegemony. Syria reiterates that the US administration is the foremost entity responsible for the escalation of strife and turmoil in the region.”

On January 3, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad condoled Iran over the assassination of Lt. Gen. Soleimani, saying that the late commander’s support for Syria will always be remembered by the Syrian nation.

In a message to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Syrian president expressed his and “the Arab people of Syria’s warmest condolences” to the Leader and the Iranian nation.

Assad said the he would never forget Iran Lieutenant General Soleimani’s support for the Syrian Arab Army in defense of Syria and against terrorism and the US.

Describing the assassination of Soleimani as a “criminal act” serving “Zionist and imperialist designs,” Assad said his martyrdom would strengthen the will of the resistance axis.

Early on Wednesday, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the US airbase of Ain al-Assad in Anbar province in western Iraq after launching a wave of attacks to retaliate the US assassination of Lt. Gen. Soleimani.

“Tens of surface-to-surface missiles” were fired at the strategic airbase and the attack was later confirmed by the US officials.

The IRGC has called for a complete withdrawal of US troops from the Arab country, asserting that it would not differentiate between the US and Israel in retaliating against the assassination of the Iranian national hero.

“We warn US allies providing bases for the [American] terrorist army… that any country serving as the origin of bellicose and aggressive attacks in any form against the Islamic Republic of Iran will be targeted,” read the IRGC statement.

The IRGC added that it would release more details about the strike.

The strike comes as no surprise since Iran had vowed to take a “harsh revenge” in the wake of the US terror attack that led to the martyrdom of Lt. Gen. Soleimani, the second-in-command of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and their companions near Baghdad International Airport on January 3.

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