Damascus - On an official state visit to Syria Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voiced his support for Lebanon's radical Islamic Hezbollah movement and warned "the enemies of the region" to abandon their hostile plans or risk being "burned.""The enemies of the region should abandon plans to attack the interests of this region, or they would be burned by the wrath of the region's peoples," Ahmadinejad said at a joint press conference with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The Iranian president welcomed Hezbollah's victory over Israel in a war between the two sides in the summer of 2006 and called for a similar victory this summer.
Ahmadinejad described Syrian-Iranian relations as "amicable, excellent and extremely deep," adding that the two countries have common stands towards the region's issues.
"Talks covered the situation in Iraq, which is a priority for the region in general, Palestine and the latest development in the Palestinian arena, and ways of restoring dialogue among all Palestinian factions," Assad said.
In a final statement wrapping up the one-day visit to Syria, the two sides said Iran's nuclear activities must be handled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The statement said the two sides stressed the "fixed right of the countries (adhering to) the non-proliferation treaty to the peaceful use of nuclear power."
The two sides also voiced support for the Iraqi government and underlined the necessity to preserve Iraq's territorial unity.
They also called for the departure of all occupation forces, and expressed support to all efforts that aim to achieve security, stability and national reconciliation in Iraq.
The Syrian and Iranian presidents urged all Palestinian factions to return to dialogue to preserve the unity of the Palestinian people.
The two presidents held two meetings Thursday, during which Ahmedinejad congratulated Assad who was sworn in Tuesday for a second seven-year term as president.
Ahmadinejad, accompanied by a high-level delegation, was greeted earlier Thursday at Damascus airport by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem.
Politically the visit appears to be an act of defiance to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has called on Syria to cut its relations with Iran as a precondition to restart the Syrian segment of Israeli-Arab peace process that deadlocked in 2000.
Syrian officials had shunned in the past Olmert's demand, stressing that Syria's relations with Iran are one of the country's fixed principles and are a matter of sovereignty.
Syria is Iran's closest Arab ally. The two countries have had close relations since 1980 when Syria sided with Persian Iran against Iraq in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
Both countries face US accusations of fuelling violence in Iraq as well as supporting Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group, which Washington labels a terrorist organization. They are also accused of supporting militant Palestinian groups, such as the Islamic group Hamas.
Ahmadinejad was expected to meet in Damascus with leaders of the Damascus-based radical Palestinian factions.
He was also due to visit the shrine of Sayyedah Zeinab, the granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammed.
