Syria's foreign minister said his country had received positive messages from Russia and Iran but wanted additional assurances from the main allies of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"There are positive messages, but we want these positive messages to be translated into clear policies that will inspire confidence in the Syrian people," Assad Hassan al-Sheibani said today at the World Government Summit 2025 in Dubai.
"There are clear messages of respect for the new Syrian administration and respect for the sovereignty of the Syrian people. "But as I told you, there are wounds among the Syrians, there is pain that the Syrian people have suffered at the hands of these two countries," he added.
After the outbreak of the war in Syria in 2011, Russia and Iran intervened militarily to help Assad regain control of much of the country. Ultimately, however, he was ousted from power in a flash late last year by rebels who have now formed a transitional government. Assad fled to Moscow.
Russia is keen to retain its naval base at Tartus and the "Hmeimim" air base in northwestern Syria. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met with Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Damascus last month.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters in December that Tehran had opened a direct line of communication with Syria's new leadership.
Shibani also said today that he had received an official invitation and would visit Iraq soon.