Iran’s president says Israel “weaker than ever”

“Palestinian intifadas changed the conditions and the victory by Lebanon’s Hezbollah in the 33-day war caused the Zionist regime to be weaker than ever and resistance fighters stronger than ever,” he said on Wednesday while addressing a host of Syrian people and officials at the shrine of Hazrat Zainab, the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), in Damascus.

“The resistance by you and the Palestinian people in the face of the Zionist regime has changed the situation in favor of the Resistance Front,” he stressed, adding that Israel is “very vulnerable” now.

“For 12 years, they waged oppression and offered ill-gotten money to Takfiri groups … Twelve years have passed since the crimes of the US, Zionist regime, and Takfiri groups, but Syria is still standing strong,” President Raisi continued, referring to the bloodletting campaign of terrorists, most notable among them Daesh, in Syria and Iraq in the past decade.

Since the inception of Takfiri groups, some had not understood the situation, but Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei correctly recognized it as an “American-Zionist” movement, he said.

The Leader, according to President Raisi, noted at the time that this level of violence cannot be carried out by Muslims and that such crimes had the hallmarks of Zionist operations.

In 2017, Iran’s military advisory assistance – alongside help provided by the Arab country’s other allies, including support aerial operations by Russia – helped Damascus defeat Daesh.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the president said that Iranians appreciate the “insight” and resistance of the Syrian government and people in the face of this “sedition.”

“The policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to support the oppressed and hence, it stands beside the oppressed Palestinian nation as well as the resistance in Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere in the world,” he added.

“Syria resisted for 12 years and emerged victorious,” he said, adding, “Syria will be reconstructed by your hands and all the destruction will be turned into lasting constructions … We will stay by your side in the reconstruction phase just the way we did during the hard days.”

The relations between Iran and Syria, the Iranian president maintained, are “strategic” and no one can undermine this “brotherhood.”

President Raisi arrived in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Wednesday at the head of a high-ranking delegation for an official two-day visit. This is the first visit by an Iranian president since the foreign-backed militancy gripped the Arab country in 2011.

Earlier in the day, President Raisi met with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad before inking an agreement on a long-term strategic comprehensive cooperation agreement.