Iran's Ahmadinejad calls for stronger alliance with Syria

Mar 1, 2009, 12:24 GMT

Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday called for a stronger alliance with Syria in a bid to resist Israel and its allies over the Palestinian crisis.

In a meeting with visiting Syrian Prime Minister Mahmoud Naji Otri, Ahmadinejad praised the two countries' position on the international and regional issues, particularly the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.

'Recent developments in the world proved that Iran and Syria were moving on the right track insisting on the need of resistance against enemies,' the Iranian leader said.

Tehran does not recognize Israel and is the main supporter of the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza.

Israel and the United States have accused Iran of training Hamas militants in Gaza as well as providing them financing and weapons. Tehran however insists it only gives spiritual and political support to anti-Israel militia groups both in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.

'If Iran and Syria have an eminent position in the region, it is because of their resistance based on their correct decisions,' Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the website of state television IRIB.

Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi, in a separate meeting with Otri, urged Damascus to be more on alert about their political enemies' tricks, saying: 'Both countries (Iran and Syria) should be active in supporting unity among all Palestinian groups and the reconstruction of Gaza.'

Iran was on the side of Hamas in its conflict with Israel last month and harshly criticized the United Nations and some Arab states for not reacting firmly against Israeli attacks. Angered Arab states in response warned Tehran to stay out of internal Arab affairs.

Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by major Western countries, has recently agreed to conciliatory talks with the secular Palestinian Fatah movement, whose representatives were expelled from Gaza by Hamas in June 2007.