The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ Quds Force has visited Syria on an “important” trip and supervised a joint drill, according to Iranian media reports.
The reports said General Esmail Qa’ani oversaw a joint Iran-Syria drill and visited several regions in a continuation of efforts to help Syria deal with military and security challenges. The reports did not provide any details about the nature or location of the drill.
In the Syrian capital Damascus, the commander also saw down for talks with senior officials and military commanders.
The reports quoted Qa’ani as saying during the visit that the US is the main root of chaos, terrorism and fighting in Syria, the region and the world.
“Syria and Iran are brother states and they enjoy significant, all-out and deep strategic relations. The Islamic Republic of Iran will be by the side of the Syrian people and leadership in dealing with challenges,” he was quoted as saying.
Iran and Syria developed friendly relations after the 1979 revolution in Iran. Iran rushed to Syria’s help following the breakout of foreign-backed militancy in the country in 2011.
Syria, assisted by Iranian military advisors as well as Russian warplanes that came to its help, has managed to retake most of the territory lost to foreign-backed militants and terrorist groups, including Daesh.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raiei paid a visit to Syria in May, during which he sat down for talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad as well as other top officials.
During the visit, a first by an Iranian president in over 10 years, Raeisi stressed that the Islamic Republic will stand by its Syrian brothers in the post-war era of reconstruction and development as was the case during the fight against terrorism.
The Syrian president also hailed Iran’s support for Syria throughout the Arab country’s conflict, and called for Iran to play a bigger role in the establishment of sustainable peace in the country and reconstruction of war-torn parts of Syria.
