Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived here on Thursday on a two-day official visit to Syria, the first since he took power last August.

Ahmadinejad's visit came after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited Iran last August, which was also the first presidential visit received by Ahmadinejad since he was elected as president last June.

The close ties between the two countries can be dated back to the Iran-Iraq war during 1980-1988, when Syria sided with Tehran against Iraq, ruled by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

An Iranian official, who asked not to be named, told Xinhua that Ahmadinejad would hold two meetings with al-Assad.

One would be held in the People's Palace, where the two presidents would sign several bilateral agreements, while the other would be a closed-door meeting during which the two leaders would discuss regional and international issues of common concern, said the official.

He added that Ahmadinejad would also hold a symbolistic meeting with Palestinian groups in Syria.

"The visit comes under a very sensitive and complicated situation, because the two sides are both facing massive international pressure," the official said, adding that the visit "highlighted the important strategic ties between the two countries."

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

In addition, the two countries back the Hezbollah, a radical Shiite militia movement, which is branded by Washington as a terrorist group. Washington also backs disarming the group under U. N. Security Council Resolution 1559.

Both countries are now entangled by their foreign affairs.

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

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, will hold an emergency meeting on Feb. 2 upon calls by the European nuclear negotiators to refer Iran's nuclear case to the U.N. Security Council.

Meanwhile, Washington also urged Damascus to stop obstructing the U.N. probe into Hariri's murder and respond positively to the requests by the U.N. investigation commission, threatening to refer Syria to the U.N. Security Council for further actions 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