By Mehdi Bagheri

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that Western countries are in dire need of Iran and Syria's cooperation and assistance, the official IRNA news agency reported.

At a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, Ahmadinejad said that "Iran and Syria stand in a united front" and the West strongly needs to cooperate with them, drawing upon Iran and Syria's key roles in regional issues.

The Syrian President is in Tehran for a one-day official visit.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrives at the airport in Teheran, capital of Iran, on Aug. 19, 2009. Bashar al-Assad started his visit to Iran on Wednesday.[Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua]

Ahmadinejad referred to the "resistance and perseverance of regional nations against the West's adventurism" and said that "the West tries to stop the trend in the region but ...the regional nations will emerge victorious due to their spirit of resistance and they (West countries) have already suffered a big defeat."

For his part, Assad congratulated Ahmadinejad on his re-election of president, saying "I am sure that from now on, doors of the international community will be wide open to Iran and Syria."

He condemned foreign intervention in Iran's internal affairs, saying that "the main purpose of the interference of enemies and the West in Iran's internal affairs is to prevent Iran and Syria from gaining consecutive victories in the next four years."

Assad also discussed with Iranian foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on some regional issues and the expansion of mutual relationship.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad waves his hands after he arrives at the airport in Teheran, capital of Iran, on Aug. 19, 2009. Bashar al-Assad started his visit to Iran on Wednesday.[Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua]

The details of his talks with Ahmadinejad and Mottaki were not released, but IRNA's report said that Wednesday's meetings had a point of emphasizing the two countries' solid relations of the last three decades.

Syria is Iran's closest ally in the region and the two countries enjoy common cultural, political and economic interests. Both countries take Israel as their arc-foe and support Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas movement in their struggle against Israel.

In the more recent development, Syria has reportedly helped the release of French-Iranian citizen Nazak Afshar from Iran's jail. Afshar was arrested on charges of participating in Iran's post-election unrest in June.

Iran is currently carrying out a large number of economic projects in Syria, including car production and housing projects, while Damascus hosts thousands of Iranian tourists and pilgrims every year.

Syria supported Iran during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, breaking from most other Arab countries.  

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2009)