Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Damascus on May 3, where he signed a “strategic cooperation” agreement with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad.
Raisi’s two-day visit to Damascus is the first trip to Syria by an Iranian head of state since 2011, when protests against Assad and his government rapidly escalated into full-blown civil conflict.
Raisi is accompanied on the trip by a high-ranking delegation that also includes the Iranian ministers of foreign affairs, defense, energy, and telecommunications.
Soon after Raisi’s arrival, the two leaders held plenary talks at Assad’s presidential palace in Damascus, according to Syria’s SANA news agency….