Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called for unity against Israel during his two-day visit to Syria today. “Today, the unity and cohesion of the resistance forces, the region and the Islamic world are more necessary than ever to accelerate the defeat of the Zionist regime,” Raisi said, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA in the presidential palace in Damascus.
Iran is at enmity with Israel and one of Syria’s most important allies. Tehran has long provided military and logistical support to movements fighting Israel. These include some Palestinian groups, but also Hezbollah in Lebanon, a key Damascus ally.
Praise for Assad
During his visit to Damascus yesterday, Raisi praised the Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad for having won “a victory” in the 12-year civil war in Syria. With political, economic and military support from Iran, among other things, Assad had managed to recapture most of the areas of the country that he had lost at the beginning of the civil war.
Raisi’s visit to Syria comes just weeks after a Chinese-brokered deal between Iran and its regional rival Saudi Arabia could fundamentally shift the balance of power in the Middle East. Assad, who has been largely isolated since the start of the Syrian war, has made a diplomatic comeback in the region in recent months.
