Ahmadinejad: Mideast condition changing in favor of Iran, Syria

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadsaid the Middle East conditions are changing in favor of his country and Syria, the English language satellite Press TV reported on Thursday.

"Conditions in the region are changing in favor of Iran and Syria," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in a meeting with the visiting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Wednesday.

"Considering the fact that the world's conditions are changing rapidly and aggressive powers are in the course of decline, Iran and Syria should coordinate for taking big decisions," he said.

Iran's President added that "if coordination is well, other countries in the region will certainly follow suit and a huge political, economic and cultural power will be formed in the Middle East," according to Press TV.

Muallem, for his part, said that relations between Iran and Syria are so strong that no country could damage them. He called for further expansion of ties between the two countries.

In another meeting with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, Muallem said "indeed, regional countries are engineers of a new Middle East and do not need instructions of cross-regional powers in this regard," the local ISNA news agency reported.

Syria is Iran's closest ally in the region and the two countries enjoy common cultural, political and economic interests. Syria and Iran take Israel as their foe and support Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement in their struggle against Israel.

Currently, Iran is carrying out a large number of economic projects in Syria, including car production and housing projects, and Damascus hosts thousands of Iranian tourists and pilgrims every year.

Source: Xinhua