TEHRAN – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has awarded the Iranian ambassador to Syria, Mahdi Sobhani, the Syrian Order of Merit of the Excellent Class, in honor of his efforts in developing Syrian-Iranian relations and for his dedication to performing his duties as his country's ambassador to Damascus.

The Order of Merit was granted to Sobhani by Ayman Sosan, the Syrian deputy foreign minister, in a ceremony attended by a number of Iranian and Syrian diplomats.

In a speech at the ceremony, Sosan hailed Iran-Syria relations, saying that Iran is a friendly country with which Syria has strong relations based on a set of values, principles and positions, foremost of which is respect for the sovereignty of states, and the right of peoples to life and to own their national choices in a manner that responds to their interests and aspirations of their peoples, according to the Syrian Al-Watan newspaper. 

Sobhani considered that this order reflects the distinguished relations between the two countries, stressing that the relations between Syria and Iran are deep and strategic, and have a wonderful historical background.

He said, “In addition to the great cooperation in the political, military, economic, cultural, scientific, educational and popular fields, there is a prominent element in the history of relations between the two countries, which is that the two sides rushed to help each other in the historical turns and in the darkest circumstances and this historical background led to the leaderships of the two countries reaching a common understanding in their relations.”

Sosan also told Al-Watan that what happened is not only a diplomatic tradition but rather an expression of appreciation for the positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards Syria, as well as mentioning this strategic relationship between the two countries, as a result of the positions that Iran has stood by Syria since the early days of the unjust war that it was subjected to.

Sosan pointed out that Sobhani, within the framework of his country's policy towards Syria, made great and mighty efforts to strengthen relations between the two countries, and to explore other areas in order to open new horizons for these relations. Therefore, he deserves this appreciation and this Order that President Bashar al-Assad bestowed upon him, Sosan noted. 

In remarks to Al-Watan, Sobhani pointed out that the economic relations between the two countries need an appropriate environment, including laws, banking affairs, and investments, and these matters help in creating a suitable environment for economic relations.