Iran’s Acting President Mohammad Mokhber and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have held talks on issues of mutual interest and the expansion of ties between the two countries.

According to The Iran Project, The two top officials met on Thursday morning as Mokhber hosted the Syrian president who visited Tehran to pay respect to the late president Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage martyred in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran on May 19.

Mokhber expressed gratitude to the Syrian president and government for their sympathy with the Iranian nation over the demise of President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and their companions.

Iran’s acting president said that the strengthening of relations between Iran and countries in the region and beyond was among the achievements of president Raisi and his foreign minister Amirabdollahian, adding that Iran’s extensive interactions with its neighbors, Islamic countries as well as like-minded nations have changed the equation of power in the world.