In his meeting with Eshagh Jahangiri, the vice president of the Islamic Republic, Bashar Assad, the president of Syria, thanked Tehran and Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic for supporting him.

According to ISNA, Assad said on Tuesday, January 29: “I am deeply grateful for Iranian nation’s support of Syrian people…we will not forget the support and help of Iran’s government and people during the war with terrorism.”

He also said that his country wants to cooperate with Iran for mutual economic development.

The head of Iran’s Central bank who has also traveled to Syria with Jahangiri announced an agreement between the central banks of Iran and Syria for monetary transfers “for the currencies of the two countries and currencies other than Dollar.”

Jahangiri mentioned power plants, roads, railroads, and mining as important fields of cooperation between the two countries and suggested to build a “shared railroad” to connect the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.

Emad Khamis, the prime minister of Syria also emphasized banking cooperation and said: “President Bashar Assad has insisted that the priority in rebuilding projects belongs to Iranian companies.”

Trade between Iran and Syria is currently about $150 million. According to estimates, Iran has spent billions of dollars in Syria to support the Assad regime. Mike Pompeo, the U.S Secretary of State warned Syria in October that if Iranian forces do not leave Syria, Damascus will not receive any money for rebuilding.