VZCZCXRO2816
RR RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDF RUEHDIR RUEHIK RUEHKUK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHDM #0249 0711557
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121557Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3128
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000249 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR DORAN, LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV IR SY
SUBJECT: HIGH-LEVEL EXCHANGES BETWEEN SYRIA AND IRAN 
CONTINUE 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar 
arrived in Damascus March 10 to meet with SARG counterpart 
MinDef General Hassan Turkmani.  The primary topic of 
discussion, according to local media, was the transfer of 
Iranian arms manufacturing to Syria.  An-Nahar, a Lebanese 
daily, quoted Najjar as saying, &what Iran possesses in 
terms of defense capabilities is Syria,s too.8  Other 
topics discussed included regional political developments and 
expansion of cooperation between the Syrian and Iranian 
armies, according to local media.  Najjar,s visit is only 
one of several between Iran and Syria in the past week, 
highlighting the continued close cooperation between the two 
countries. 
 
¶2.  (U) On March 8, Iranian First VP Parviz Davoodi, 
accompanied by the Iranian Minister of Industry, visited 
Damascus to inaugurate the Syrian production line of the 
Iranian car manufacturer Samand; the car will be known in 
Syria as the Sham (apparently a reference to the traditional 
Arabic name for Damascus).  Davoodi met with President Asad, 
VP Shara,a and PM Otri, and invited SARG PM Otri to visit 
Tehran March 14-16, according to local press.  Otri will lead 
the Syrian delegation to a meeting of the Syria-Iran Joint 
Higher Committee, which will discuss further economic 
development opportunities between Syria and Iran.  (Note: PM 
Otri,s trip to Tehran was originally scheduled for February, 
but was postponed for an unspecified reason.  End Note.) 
 
¶3.  (U) January and February also saw several other exchanges 
between the two countries.  Iranian National Security Council 
chairman Ali Akbar Larijani visited Damascus in mid-January 
to meet with Syrian and Palestinian officials based here, 
including Hamas leaders, according to local media.  President 
Asad (accompanied by VP Shara,a, FM Mu,allim, and Assistant 
FM Arnous) spent two days in Iran in mid-February, reportedly 
meeting with Iranian President Admedinejad, Ayatollah 
Khameni, National Security Adviser Larijani, and former 
President (and now Chairman of the Expediency Council) 
Rafsanjani.  Separate SARG visits to Tehran during this time 
also included FM Mu,allim, Minister of Communications Amr 
Salem, and Minister of Culture Riad Nassan-Agha, who attended 
Aleppo cultural week in Isfahan, Iran,s capital of Islamic 
culture. 
CORBIN