TEHRAN - Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis held talks with the secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani in Tehran on Monday, voicing Damascus’s enthusiasm to broaden all-out ties with Iran.

The Syrian prime minister was welcomed by Es’haq Jahangiri, the first vice-president, in Sa’ad Abad complex on Monday morning. 

Imad Khamis is accompanied by a high-ranking delegation including Foreign Minister Walid Moallem and Ali Ayoub, the country’s defense minister. 

The visit by the Syrian delegation is primarily aimed to discuss bilateral ties and the latest regional and international developments as well as offering condolences to senior Iranian officials over the martyrdom of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC Quds Force.

General Soleimani was a legendary commander in leading the resistance against terrorist groups, especially Daesh, in both Syria and Iraq. 

However, in a highly dangerous move, the United States assassinated this anti-terror general in Baghdad on January 3. Iran retaliated to the hostile act by firing ballistic missiles at a U.S. airbase in Iraq.
 
MJ/PA