Assad: Syria, Iran alliance strategic, balance shifting in our favor

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said on Saturday, during his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Damascus, that there is a new status forming in the region that can change the balance in Syria's favor.

According to a statement by Iran's Foreign Ministry, the Syrian president called relations between Syria and Iran a "strategic alliance", adding that over the past forty years, relations between the two countries have constantly grown.

Upon arriving in the Syrian capital, Amir-Abdollahian told reporters that the recent visit to Tehran by the Syrian President was a new milestone in relations between the two countries.

As for his visit to Syria, the FM said that its importance lies in the fact that Iran and Syria are currently in a new phase of comprehensive cooperation, especially in the economic and trade fields.

Furthermore, as he just came from Turkey, he highlighted Iran's understanding of Ankara's security issues and said Tehran strongly opposes "military attempts" in Syria made under any justification, adding that Iran is working to resolve existing misunderstandings between the two neighboring countries through diplomacy and dialogue.

Iran had previously voiced its refusal of Turkey's military incursion into Syria and said it considered such military action to be "a violation of the territorial integrity and national sovereignty" of Syria.