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14 December 2011 - 22:40

Iran's Majlis (parliament) passed a bill today on free trade with Syria to back the Arabian republic which is hit by the West's economic sanctions.

According to Khabar Online correspondent, at an open session of Majlis held today, 15 lawmakers called for studying and concluding that free trade agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Syrian Arab Republic.
 
Defending the bill, Ala'eddin Boroujerdi, the head of national security and foreign policy commission of Majlis spoke on the current situation of Syria.
 
"Assisted by its European and Middle Eastern allies, the United States is investing some billion dollars to change the political structure of Syria. In the same line, Arabian news networks in the Middle East region including Al Jazeera are broadcasting special news and programs to achieve such goal," he stated.
 
Elsewhere in his remarks, the senior lawmaker pointed to his visit to Turkey as well as a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and said: "We protested Turkish government's alignment with the US policies against Syria."
 
Turkey's customs and trade minister said on December 9 that the government is expected to approve the suspension of a free trade agreement with Syria in retaliation for a similar move by Damascus which has unilaterally suspended the 2008 agreement and eliminated taxes on most goods.
 
Stressing that Syria has sided with Palestinian Jihad groups resisting against Israel Boroujerdi said: "Free trade is one of the initiatives which can implement Iran's plan of supporting Syria. That free trade bill is a huge step aimed at backing Syrian government and nation."
 
"Through passing this bill, the Majlis is giving a crushing response to the United States and allies," he added.
 
Attending the session, the government’s spokesman in the Majlis also said by approving such agreement, the lawmakers will convey the message of resistance to the enemies of Syrian government and the opponents of campaign against Zionism.
 
Finally the bill was passed as out of 217 voting in total, 142 lawmakers voted for the bill while 4 voted against and 9 abstained.
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News ID 181279