The two top officials met on Thursday morning as Mokhber hosted the Syrian president who visited Tehran to pay respect to the late president Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage martyred in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran on May 19.

Mokhber expressed gratitude to the Syrian president and government for their sympathy with the Iranian nation over the demise of President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and their companions.

Iran’s acting president said that the strengthening of relations between Iran and countries in the region and beyond was among the achievements of president Raisi and his foreign minister Amirabdollahian, adding that Iran’s extensive interactions with its neighbors, Islamic countries as well as like-minded nations have changed the equation of power in the world.

Mokhber also referred to a key strategy pursued by Iran and Syria in supporting the resistance front, saying that enemies’ plot to harm the resistance as well as Tehran-Damascus friendly relations has already been foiled, with the climax of their failure being visible in Gaza where the Zionist regime has failed to achieve its goals despite being backed by world powers.     

President Assad, on his part, underscored that Iran-Syria relations are strategic and based on unalterable principles.

Pointing to the demise of President Raisi, he said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has become strong in the face of different crises over the past 44 years, adding that enemies’ plots or losses such as the president’s demise are not able to adversely affect the country.