Iran, the most prominent regional ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saw today, Monday, that the restoration of relations between Arab countries and Damascus is in the interest of "all countries in the region", following the visit of the UAE Foreign Minister to the Syrian capital last week.
Last Thursday, Tehran welcomed Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan's visit to Syria on the ninth of November and his meeting with Assad, in the first step of its kind by a high-ranking Emirati official to Damascus since several Gulf countries cut diplomatic relations with Damascus following the outbreak of the conflict in 2011.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, "It is gratifying that countries (...) are publicly normalizing their relations with Syria," considering that this step "is in the interest of all countries in the region."
He stressed during his weekly press conference that Iran "not only welcomes this path, but is also doing what it can to speed up the pace of Arab countries' restoration of normal relations with Syria."
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian conveyed to his Emirati counterpart Tehran's welcome to his visit to Damascus and considered it a "positive step", during a telephone conversation between them last Thursday, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Meeting
On the same day, Amir Abdollahian contacted his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra, whose country is expected to host the next session of the Arab Summit.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry reported that Amir Abdollahian praised Algeria's "rational position on Syria's return to the Arab League," expressing his hope that the next meeting of the League of Arab States would yield "important benefits for the Islamic nation."
Shortly after the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, the Arab League suspended Syria's membership, and several Arab countries cut ties with Damascus, including the UAE, while others, including Jordan, maintained limited contacts between the two parties, and the Sultanate of Oman was an exception among the Gulf states.
At the end of 2018, the UAE resumed work in its embassy in Damascus, with the start of indications of Gulf openness towards Syria.
Gulf and Arab countries blame Assad for his close alliance with the Islamic Republic, which they accuse of "interfering" in the countries of the region and supporting armed parties in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
Iran is Assad's most prominent regional ally, and has provided political, economic and military support to Syria over the past years.
Khatibzadeh said that Syria is "one of the main parties in the Arab world, and those who worked to exclude Syria weakened the Arab world and the region."