ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The government of President Bashar al-Assad is in full solidarity with Iran on Tuesday, when the US implemented sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's trading sector, according to Syrian state media.
Syria strongly condemns the US decision to re-impose sanctions on Iran, an unnamed official from the Syrian foreign ministry told SANA news agency on Tuesday.
Tehran has served as one of the Assad government's primary backers through the Syrian conflict. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it is merely advising their Syrian allies against opposition groups. Coffins of dead Iranians routinely are welcomed back to the country, draped with the Islamic Republic’s flag.
The foreign ministry official labeled the US sanctions unilateral and illegal, adding that the administration of President Donald Trump has arrogant and despotic tendencies.
The US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in May, claiming the agreement did not do enough to prevent Tehran from weaponizing nuclear materials, nor did it address Iran's "malign" activities in the region.
Syria is reiterating its full support for Iran against hostile US policies, according to the official, who asserted Tehran is confident that the Iranian leadership, government, and people will be able to overcome all repercussions.
Israel Defense Forces have summarized Iran-Syrian economic relations since 2014.
"All in all, in the past three years, Iran has provided approximately 8 billion USD in direct economic aid to Syria. This estimate does not include hundreds of millions of dollars per year in direct military support," reads an IDF web page.
Trump, after the implementation of the sanctions, repeated that he was willing to negotiate with Tehran, but Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed that the sanctions must first be lifted.
“If you’re an enemy and you stab the other person with a knife, and then you say you want negotiations, then the first thing you have to do is remove the knife,” Rouhani said, according to AFP.
