10 May 2023; MEMO: Iran's defence minister said on Monday that his country is ready to provide the Syrian armed forces with the latest defensive weapons. Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani made his comment after a meeting last week with his Syrian counterpart, General Ali Abbas, in Damascus.
"The time has come for reconstruction and prosperity in Syria in various fields," said Ashtiani, a reference to Iran's "defence diplomacy efforts" during the Moscow quadripartite meeting aimed at achieving security stability, Iran's IRNA reported.
The minister stressed that Iran is ready to cooperate with the Syrian Arab Republic. "This will include building factories and launching production lines for strategic defence products, in order to enhance the security of the Syrian people and establish multilateral defence infrastructure and strengthen the weapons base in Syria."
In response, Abbas affirmed that "Syria's security and stability have been established with the support of the Iranian brothers. Strengthening Syria's defence base will make it more capable of fighting terrorism as one of the axes of resistance."
