Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Moallem, held talks on a range of issues, including the latest efforts to boost strategic relations between the two countries.

In a telephone conversation on Wednesday, Zarif and Moallem also exchanged views about the outcomes of a recent historic visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Tehran.

Assad paid an unannounced visit to Iran and met with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Monday.

Speaking at the meeting, the Leader praised the resistance of Syria’s government and people that led to the defeat of Washington and its regional mercenaries.

Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized that the triumph of the resistance front in Syria has made Americans angry and prompted them to hatch new plots, adding, “The issue of the buffer zone, which Americans seek to establish in Syria, is among those dangerous plots that must be categorically rejected and stood against.”

Conflicts erupted in Syria back in 2011, when a small group of opposition forces took up arms against Damascus.

Soon, however, a mix of international terrorists and paid mercenaries mingled with and then largely sidestepped the armed Syrian opposition groups, effectively turning the Arab country into a battlefield for foreign governments opposed to Assad.

But the Syrian military, with advisory military help from Iran and Russia — and a Russian aerial bombardment campaign — has retaken control of much of the country, and the conflict is generally believed to be winding down.

Source: Tasnim News Agency