News - Middle East: Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Arab Republic of Syria have singed an agreement on “long-term strategic comprehensive cooperation” between the two countries.

The two presidents held a meeting earlier in the day in Damascus, highlighting the importance of Iran-Syria’s long-term cooperation plan for advancing the interests of the two nations and other countries in the region.
In addition to the strategic cooperation agreement, the two presidents inked 14 other documents in various areas, including trade, oil and energy, engineering, housing, rail and aerial transportation, free trade zones, communications and technology, earthquake reliefs, and facilitation of pilgrimage to the holy sites for the people of the two Muslim nations.
Heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation, President Ebrahim Raeisi arrived in Damascus on Wednesday. The visit is the first by an Iranian president since the foreign-backed militancy gripped the Arab country in 2011.
Mehrdad Bazrpash, the Iranian road minister and head of the Iran-Syria Joint Economic Commission, described the signed documents as “nearly unprecedented both in terms of number and importance of [addressed] issues.”
“A major section of these documents seeks to facilitate trade between the two countries,” he told IRIB after the signing ceremony, noting that the agreements will improve the quality and volume of bilateral trade.
Tehran and Damascus are also set to discuss the establishment of a joint bank and joint insurance that will ease trade, said the official, adding that one Syrian and one Iranian bank will carry out financial transactions till the the joint institution is set up. 
According to one of the agreements, 50,000 Iranians will be able to make pilgrimage to the shrine of Hazrat Zainab, the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), in Damascus on a yearly basis, using three to five direct flights every week, Bazrpash said. He added that the operation to dispatch pilgrims will start in the next two months.