Iranian Defense minister arrives in Damascus to sign new defense pact

Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami arrived in Damascus Sunday at the head of a large military delegation for a two day visit, during which he will sign an Iranian-Syrian defense pact for strengthening the ties between their armies. Hatami’s first words were that he had come to strengthen the Iranian-Syrian “resistance” front – a code-word recognized in the Mid East as meaning war on Israel.
DEBKAfile: The Hatami trip is Iran’s response to US National Security Adviser John Bolton’s visit to Israel last week to air a joint US-Israel plan of operation against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Al Qods Brigades’ presence in Syria along with their foreign Shiite militias. Bolton told reporter that Iran should remove its forces from Syria, to which Russia Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov replied on Friday that said Moscow respects Iran’s presence in Syria at the request of the Arab country’s legitimate government. Russian media defined the Hatami  visit as aimed at “active participation in the reconstruction of Syria.”