Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad highlighted on Wednesday Tehran's relations with Damascus as "brotherly and strong", the official SANA news agency reported.

"The stances of Tehran and Damascus are very clear regarding issues of the region" and "they are against the foreign intervention in the Middle East affairs," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in Tehran before his two-day visit from Thursday.

He added that the visit will contribute to boosting bilateral ties between the two countries, noting that his country opposes the policy of arrogance and foreign intervention in its internal affairs, SANA said.

The Iranian President said the two sides will discuss a number of agreements in cultural, industrial and economic fields, as well as international and regional issues.

It will be Ahmadinejad's first visit to Syria, which follows an invitation from President Bashar al-Assad who visited Tehran shortly after Ahmadinejad took office last August.

Syria and Iran, both on the U.S. blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, are also both accused by Washington of taking insufficient action to prevent armed opponents of the U.S.-led coalition from crossing into Iraq.

Syria is facing mounting international pressure over its alleged role in the killing of Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri while Iran was in the hot water over its disputed nuclear program.

The United States, Britain, France, and Germany threatened last week to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, which could impose sanctions.

Meanwhile, Washington also urged Damascus to stop obstructing the UN probe into Hariri's murder and respond positively to the requests by the UN investigation commission, threatening to refer Syria to the UN Security Council for further action if Damascus does not cooperate.

Syria has denied any role in the killing and dismissed the UN charge of slow cooperation as "inaccurate."

Source: Xinhua