Tehran and Damascus insist on the need to end Gaza siege

DAMASCUS, Jan. 11 (MNA) – Iran and Syria called for unity among rival Palestinian groups and the need to end the crippling siege on the Gaza Strip.


The call was made in a meeting between Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Syrian President Beshar Assad in Damascus on Monday.


The two officials said it is necessary that the Islamic and Arab countries as well as the international community accelerate their efforts to end the agonies of the besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.


Mottaki spoke of the ongoing crimes of the Zionist regime.


According to reports, Assad called Syria's relations with Iran "strategic, close, long-term and deep."


On the planned parliamentary polls in Iraq, Mottaki and Assad expressed hope that the March elections to serve as a catalyst for a unified and secure Iraq.


According to AFP news agency, Iran’s foreign minister received the deputy Hezbollah secretary general Hossein Khalil, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad secretary general Ramadan Abdullah Salah in Tehran’s Embassy in Damascus.


Mottaki also held talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem.