Iran’s Rafsanjani to hold talks with al-Assad in Damascus

Iran Focus London, Apr. 11 – Iran’s former President Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani will travel to Damascus on Wednesday where he will hold talks with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and other top Syrian officials, Iran’s official news agency reported on Tuesday.

Rafsanjani, who currently chairs the State Expediency Council (SEC), is expected to discuss Tehran-Damascus ties as well as Iraq, Lebanon, and the Arab-Israeli dispute.

He will hold separate meetings with Syrian Vice-President Farouk al-Shara, Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-Otri, Foreign Minister Valid al-Moalem and Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Hasson during the five-day trip.

In January, hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad travelled to Syria to meet with al-Assad.

At the end of the trip, Ahmadinejad defended al-Assad in the United Nations probe into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minster Rafiq Hariri.

A UN-appointed committee investigation into Hariri’s assassination in 2005 found that senior Syrian leaders were directly involved.

After the talks, the Syrian leader came out in defence of the Islamic Republic in its nuclear pursuit.

Regional allies Iran and Syria are both accused by the United States of being state sponsors of terrorism.