Iranian President Raisi's visit to Syria: Reaffirming relations amidst changing dynamics

"You are like your father; you are considered one of the faces of the resistance front."

This sentence was said by the Iranian President, Ibrahim Raisi, to his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, in Tehran last year.

This meeting will be renewed on Wednesday, but this time in Damascus. 

Against the backdrop of Israeli strikes on Syria, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi will arrive in Damascus, making the first visit by an Iranian president to the Syrian capital since the beginning of the war in the country.

Iran significantly supports Damascus and has provided political, economic, and military support since the war. 

Politically, this visit comes to reaffirm the depth of relations between Syria and the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially as the region is witnessing significant changes.

One of these changes is the recent Arab openness to Syria. Its latest stop was the five-party foreign ministers meeting of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria. 

This was preceded by the visit of the Saudi Foreign Minister to Damascus and the visit of the Syrian Foreign Minister to Jeddah.

Some see the Arab openness to Syria as a counterbalance to reducing Iranian presence in Syria. 

Does the meeting between Raisi and al-Assad send a message to the Arabs?

The economic aspect is no less significant than the political aspect of the visit. With the Arab openness to Syria and the calm in the Syrian arena, the issue of reconstruction of the country and reviving its economic cycle returns.

In the details of the economic agreements between the two countries, sources revealed to the Syrian newspaper al-Watan that negotiations would be held on a new Iranian credit line for Syria, i.e., easy loans that will be invested in the electricity sector, with the aim of helping to improve the electricity situation there.