Zarif, New Syrian FM Hold Talks on Phone
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his new Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad held a telephone conversation on Sunday.
In the conversation, Zarif congratulated Mekdad on taking office as the new foreign minister of Syria.
He once again offered condolences on the death of Walid al-Muallem, the former foreign minister of the Arab country, and underlined the continuation of strategic cooperation between Tehran and Damascus.
Last week, Zarif sent a message to Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Syrian Arab Republic Hussein Arnus, paying tribute to his late Syrian counterpart for his prominent role in serving the Arab country and protecting its national interests and security.
Muallem passed away at the age of 79 on November 16. He served as Syria’s top diplomat since 2006 while also serving as the country's deputy prime minister since 2012, over almost the entire nearly decade-long foreign-backed militancy in Syria. Back in the 1990s, he was Syria's ambassador to the US.
