Iranian president arrives in Syria

ALBAWABA - Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi arrived in Syria on the first visit in 13 years for discussions on political and economic cooperation with Bashar Assad.

Raisi flew into the Damascus International Airport earlier Wednesday for a two-day state visit. He is accompanied by a high-level ministerial delegation comprising political and economic strategists, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

SANA said several agreements are expected to be signed during the Iranian president's meetings with Assad. It neither disclosed the time of the meeting, nor revealed any details on the agreements.

Raisi's visit to Syria is his first since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2011 to oust the Syrian strongman.

Iran is a strong ally of Syria and one of the most active supporters of the Assad regime.

Tehran said that the visit, which comes at the invitation of Assad, is of "strategic importance" to the two countries.