Iran’s Zarif, Syria’s Assad discuss fight against ‘terror’

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will arrive in India on Thursday on a 20-hour visit during which he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

“We are ready to cooperate, exchange ideas, and work together with these nations to fight extremism, terrorism, and sectarianism”, Zarif said at a news conference in Beirut.

Hezbollah has close ties with Iran and its Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met with Zarif during his visit.

On July 14, Iran and the P5+1 countries – the US, France, Britain, Russian Federation and China plus Germany – finalized the text of the nuclear agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in Vienna over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The remarks were carried by Al-Manar, the television of the powerful Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran.

Pro-government media cited sources as saying that the Syrian government is okay with the initiative as long as each step is put for public referendum.

While years of diplomacy have so far made no progress towards ending the war, there are signs of a new push in recent weeks following Iran’s nuclear deal last month with major powers including both the United States and Russian Federation.

Hezbollah has deployed thousands of fighters to aid Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who recently suffered significant battlefield losses.

Iran’s proposed peace plan on Syria is expected to be on the agenda of talks between Zarif and the Arab country’s officials.

Investment in infrastructure, oil imports and ironing out troubles over the planned Chabahar port development project are on the agenda as Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif meets the government in Delhi on Friday. The city is situated about 45 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Damascus and about 10 kilometers from the Lebanon border.

“The whole region and the friendly, Islamic and Arab countries have all enjoyed the benefits of the accord”, Zarif said in a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam upon his arrival in the capital Beirut on Tuesday.

Shortly afterward, government warplanes attacked the rebel-held suburbs of Douma, Saqba, Kafr Batna and Hammouriyeh in the Eastern Ghouta region, killing at least 37 civilians and wounded more than 100, according to the Observatory.