Iran Tracker

Reaction to June 2009 Iranian Presidential Election:

In June 2009, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad congratulated Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his re-election, offering "best wishes for progress and prosperity" to the Iranian people.[1]

Nuclear:

Several international news agencies have reported accusations against the Syrian government, claiming that it has been cooperating with Tehran on the Iranian nuclear program. In June 2008, the British Guardian newspaper reported that an Israeli advisor released evidence that “the Iranians were involved in the Syrian program. The idea was that the Syrians produce plutonium and the Iranians get their share. Syria had no reprocessing facility for the spent fuel.”[2] At the same, the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel alleged that Iran and North Korea had been supporting a secret nuclear facility in Syria that would have helped Iran develop a nuclear weapon until such time that Tehran could move the program to its own territory. Syria and Iran both denied the allegations and an Israeli air strike reportedly destroyed the facility before International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors could verify the accusations.[3]

Despite the loss of evidence in the airstrike, the IAEA placed Syria on its proliferation watch-list based on satellite pictures provided by the US intelligence community showing a reactor that could be used for plutonium enrichment. [4] As a result, both Syria and Iran remain on the IAEA nuclear watchlist, although both have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. [5] In October 2008, Iran dropped its bid for a seat on the IAEA to lend its support to Syria, its ally and former competitor for the position reserved for a Middle Eastern or South Asian country. [6]

On February 13, 2010, Israel accused Syria of helping Iran divert attention from its nuclear program by employing confrontationalist rhetoric and spreading rumors of a war with the Jewish state. In a public meeting near Tel Aviv, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said he hopes that “Syria will not let itself get carried away by the bellicose statements of Iran.”[7]

Following the release of an IAEI report regarding Iran in February 2010, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem categorically denied the possibility that Tehran seeks a nuclear weapon, saying that "Iran does not have a nuclear military program." While the minister stressed his country’s active engagement in the issue, he also noted that, in Syria’s opinion, "sanctions are not a solution (to the standoff) between Iran and the West" and that Damascus is “trying to engage a constructive dialogue between the two parties in order to reach a peaceful solution."[8]

In response to the United Nations Security Council’s approval of an additional round of sanctions against Iran in June 2010, Syrian First Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa reiterated his country’s support for Iran’s nuclear program, adding that such sanctions will prove ineffective. According to Iran’s Fars News Agency, the vice president claimed that “UN sanctions may not leave a negative impact on the Iranian nation's will for progress.” The comments came during a June 22, 2010 meeting with the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili.[9] Later that month, in a meeting with Sharaa, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad thanked Syria for “its supportive stance on the Iranian nuclear issue” and its “endorsement” of the so called Tehran declaration, a proposal between Iran, Brazil, and Turkey, according to which Iran would exchange its low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel rods.[10]

Economic Relationship:

In recent years, Syria and Iran have worked to enhance their already significant economic and financial cooperation. According to Iranian Minister of Housing and Urban Development Ali Nikzad, as of January 2010, annual trade between Iran and Syria was valued at roughly $330 million. Imports from Syria, however, account for only $16 million of the total. Nikzad further claims that 36 Iranian companies were operating in Syria at that time and that the Islamic Republic has over $1.6 billion worth of technical and engineering projects active in the country.[11]

In January 2008, Iran’s Press TV reported that Syria and Iran intend to speed up the construction of a joint oil refinery. The $2.6 billion project, which involves Malaysia and Venezuela as well as the two Middle East countries, will have the capacity to refine 140,000 barrels a day; this would provide Iran with the ability to refine much more of its own crude oil, granting Tehran greater flexibility by weaning it off refined oil imports, particularly gasoline.[12]

According to Ali Akbar Mehrabian, the Iranian minister of industries and mines, Syria and Iran cooperate in some $1.3 billion worth of industrial projects with an additional $3 billion planned for the future. In an August 2008 statement, the minister went on to claim that “[Iranian] specialists have already inaugurated car production lines, cement production plants, electricity power plants, water channels, and silos in Syria.”[13]

Syrian and Iranian cooperation also extends to the banking sector: the two agreed in July 2008 to establish a joint bank in Damascus with an initial capitalization of $30 million.[14] According to a memorandum of understanding, signed by economic delegations of the two countries in Damascus on May 25, 2010, Iran will own 60% of the bank.[15]

The two countries held a round of high level economic talks in April 2010, during which Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-Otari and Iranian First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi discussed methods for implementing previous arrangements and memorandums and concluded several new agreements. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, the Iran-Syria 12th Joint High Commission meeting studied a host of potential new agreements in “media cooperation, customs, [the] export of Iran's natural gas to Syria through Turkey, water supply to Syria, and export of polymeric and petrochemical products.”[16] While at the talks, Rahimi claimed that “at [the] international level there are no relations more consolidated than those between Tehran and Damascus.”[17] The meeting concluded with the signing of a 17-article agreement containing measures for furthering cooperation in “trade, investment, planning and statistics, industries, air, naval and rail transportation, communication and information technology, health, agriculture, [and] tourism.” Rahimi and Otari both praised the “unprecedented” expansion in trade relations between the two countries and encouraged efforts to increase bilateral trade to as much as $5 billion.[18]

According to Hossein Noqrehkar Shirazi, Iran’s deputy oil minister for international affairs, the Islamic Republic is considering multiple possible routes for transporting gas to European markets, one of which would pass through Iraq, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea. The deputy minister indicated that the existence of gas lines in Syria and Iraq renders such a line all the more viable.[19]

[Click here for more information about Syria’s business activity with Iran.)

Diplomatic/Military Cooperation:

Iran and Syria have enjoyed a close relationship since Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979; this relationship has deepened even as international pressure against Iran’s nuclear program has increased.[20] While Syria-Iran bilateral ties enjoy a strong economic and political foundation, they have also involved conventional military agreements and support for paramilitary groups. Commenting on the strength of ties between Damascus and Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi stated at a July 27, 2009 press conference that "nobody can disturb the ties between the two countries, which are based on mutual respect and brotherly relations."[21] Syria has also suggested that it may be able to act as a bridge between Iran and estranged western governments, with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem saying, during a July 2009 joint press conference with British Foreign Minister David Miliband, that his country is ready and willing to help find a “political solution for issues standing between Iran and the West.”[22]

The two countries have attempted to create a unified public front, consistently describing bilateral relations as strategic and indicating that their ‘alliance’ has great potential to influence regional geopolitics. In May 2009, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, during which time the two leaders pledged their support for the “Palestinian resistance.”[23]  During the visit, President Assad reaffirmed his country’s close relationship with Tehran, claiming that the “strategic” alliance between the two countries helps to provide security to the region.[24] On January 7, 2010, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad met with visiting Syrian Speaker of Parliament Mahmoud al-Abrash in Tehran.[25] Ahmadinejad highlighted the capacity and importance of bilateral ties, saying that “Iran and Syria have a joint mission to create a new world order on the basis of justice, humanity, and belief in God."[26] This sentiment was echoed by Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, who stressed that the strategic ties between Tehran and Damascus can be used to solve regional issues. According to Larijani, "the Syrian government is among those governments which have very strategic and age-old relations with Iran and it has close cooperation with Iran on political issues and different issues related to the establishment of security in the region."[27]

In late February 2010, President Ahmadinejad visited Syria for several meetings with regional figures. The president held talks with Assad, Palestinian leaders, and the head of Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah. Ahmadinejad was accompanied by members of the Iranian parliament and government ministers. [28] During their talks, Assad strongly criticized US policy towards Iran. Referencing a suggestion by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Syria distance itself from the Islamic Republic, Assad said “I find it strange that they (Americans) talk about Middle East stability and peace and other beautiful principles and call for two countries to move away from each other.” Reaffirming the strong bilateral relationship between Damascus and Tehran, Ahmadinejad described his country’s alliance with Syria as “unbreakable,” claiming that there “is no distance between Iran and Syria.”[29] Following the meetings, the Iranian president announced that Iran and Syria had agreed to lift visa requirements for travel between the two countries and declared that the strategic relations between Syria, Iran, and the “Islamic Resistance” can be utilized to “solve political problems” in the region.[30]

In April 2010, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Secretary Saeed Jalili, met with Foreign Minister Muallem. Speaking of the strategic relationship between the two countries, Jalili argued that bilateral efforts had created a “new front of countries with the same goals.” He further described the strengthening of ties between Iran and Syria as “a thorn in enemies’ side.”[31] In a telephone conversation that same month, Assad and Ahmadinejad again lauded the strategic nature of their relationship, with the Iranian president saying that "the enemies will never succeed as long as Iran and Syria stand by each other," insisting that "Iran and Syria will continue to cooperate on bilateral, regional and international issues." Both sides recommitted their countries to opposing Israel and lambasted “some Arab states,” accused by Assad of seeking “to be representatives of the West on Iran's nuclear issue,” for forgetting that “their main enemy…is [the] Zionist regime.”[32]

During a June 2010 visit by Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa, Ahmadinejad praised the strength of the alliance, claiming that “today, the arrogant and hegemonic powers are in a very much weaker position compared to 60 years ago. If the independent nations consolidate their positions against these powers the latter will be faced with (terminal) decline.”[33] The president went on to claim that “experience has shown that wherever and whenever Iran and Syria entered the scene, they have always gained victory” and added that the two countries share “identical views on international and regional issues.”[34]

Although ties between Syria and Iran are undeniably strong, the significance of their ‘alliance’ has been put into question by at least one Iranian military official. In an interview with Iran’s Mehr News Agency in July 2010, the former commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, lamented his country’s lack of strategic allies in the region, saying that although Turkey and Syria “are to some extent close to [Iran]… they are not considered as Iran’s allies in real terms.”[35]

 Support for anti-Israeli (and, at times, anti-Western) organizations is a major axis of bilateral ties. The clearest example of this has been Iran-Syria support for Lebanese Hezbollah. Although Hezbollah has been listed by several countries as a terrorist organization, both Tehran and Damascus have continued to provide the Shi'a Islamist group with funding and vocal political support since its creation in the 1980s. Furthermore, joint assistance for and advocacy on the behalf of Palestinians in the region has long since become a common refrain in bilateral cooperation, with both countries’ officials often vociferously criticizing Israel on a host of issues related to Palestine.

During a June 2010 meeting with Speaker Abrash, President Ahmadinejad highlighted the importance of the Syria-Iran alliance in regional politics, in particular the issue of Palestine. According the Iranian president, “the [Damascus-Tehran led] front line of resistance against the Israeli regime has turned into a very strong front, shattering Israel and its supporters' hope of dominating the region."[36] That same month, Vice President Rahimi stressed the need for combined efforts in aiding Palestinians, saying that "Iran and Syria share common positions on the Palestinian issue and they should expand their relations and cooperation with other countries, like Turkey and Iraq, to foil the ominous plots of the Zionists." Rahimi further encouraged the expansion of multilateral ties between Syria, Iran, Brazil, and Turkey.[37]

Both Syria and Iran reacted dramatically following a May 2010 Israeli assault on a pro-Palestinian vessel that had been attempting to reach Gaza in defiance of a blockade of the territory. In early July 2010, Majlis Speaker Larijani traveled to Syria to attend an emergency meeting of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic Conference on Palestine addressing the situation in Gaza. During his visit, Larijani met with Vice President Sharaa in Damascus, where the two officials strongly encouraged other Arab and Islamic countries to dispatch aid to Palestinians in Gaza.[38]  

In recent years, the two countries have added displays of visible military cooperation (as well as clandestine weapons transfers) to their political relations. In 2006, Iran and Syria signed a mutual defense treaty against their “common threats,” namely Israel and the United States.[39] Iran has also supplied Syria with military equipment and paid for some of Syria’s military purchases from the two countries’ common suppliers, Russia and China.[40] On June 30, 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported that in 2009 Iran supplied Syria with a radar system that could “threaten Israel's ability to launch a surprise attack against Iran's nuclear facilities.” The information, which had been leaked by unnamed Israeli and US officials, was denied by both Iran and Syria, with the latter’s embassy spokesman, Ahmed Salkini, describing it as "classic Israeli PR stunts aimed at diverting the world's attention from the atrocities they are committing in Gaza and other occupied territories.”[41] The June report is not the only time in recent years that Iran has been accused of supplying Syria with military equipment. In October 2009, US soldiers discovered ammunition aboard a German cargo ship traveling from Iran to Syria. The cargo included 7.62 millimeter bullets suitable for Kalashnikov model rifles, with reports indicating that it was likely intended for either the Syrian army or Hezbollah. The shipment, which was in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1747 “forbid[ing] all weapons shipments into and out of Iran,” was rerouted to Malta under US direction.[42]