Iran and Syria look to closer ties
By an IWPR-trained reporter
DAMASCUS - The busy historic market of Damascus is a familiar sight for Siya
Shahidi. The Iranian housewife and mother of three has been going there from
Tehran at least twice a year for years with her family to shop and visit holy
sites.
"When I walk in this market, it feels like walking in Tehran," said Shahidi,
whose head is only partly covered by a black scarf as she browses colorful
dresses in a small store at the Hamidiyeh souk in old Damascus.
Shahidi, who considers Damascus "the cheapest and closest city" to Tehran, is
one of hundreds of thousands of Iranians who
visit Syria every year for religious tourism, recreation or business. Their
growing numbers reflect the close political and strategic ties between the
leaders of Iran and Syria.
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad made a ceremonial appearance in Damascus
on February 25 with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad. The mini-summit
between the presidents was an apparent assertion of the robustness of bilateral
relations in the face of continuing calls from the United States and the West
for Damascus to sever its ties with Tehran.
In the past year, Washington has started a dialogue with the Syrian government,
hoping to lure it into weakening its support for anti-Israeli militant groups
in Lebanon and Gaza, which are heavily backed by the Iranians.
Washington declared recently that it would be dispatching Robert Ford as its
new ambassador to Damascus after a five-year hiatus.
But many critics feel that the new American policy at a time when the US pushes
for peace talks between Israel and Syria does not present enough incentive to
drive Syria away from its regional ally Iran.
The US maintains sanctions against Syria that were imposed in 2004 and the
peace process is stalled, for which the Syrians blame Israel and its American
supporters.
"I don't think it's in anybody's best interest for [the Syrian-Iranian]
relationship to dissolve. On the contrary, I see it as a blessing in disguise
for the international community," said Sami Moubayed, a Damascus-based
political analyst and editor-in-chief of Forward magazine and a correspondent
for Asia Times Online.
He said Damascus had proved to be a "good negotiator" and could be a mediator
between Iran and the West.
"I find it strange that they [the US] talk about Middle East stability and at
the same time talk about dividing two countries," Assad told reporters at his
joint news conference with Ahmadinejad.
Moubayed said that Damascus wanted to send out a double message, first that it
is not ready to break an alliance "based on mutual interests and vision" and,
second, that the Syrians could continue to maintain good relations with the
West while maintaining strong ties with Iran.
But beyond its political dimension, the meeting led to the elimination of visa
requirements between the two countries in a bid to consolidate relations at a
popular level.
Some say that this move will increase the number of Iranian visitors going to
Syria, estimated to be 500,000 a year now and rising.
Few, however, go in the other direction.
In Damascus old town it is common to hear vendors using Farsi as they welcome
Iranian customers and bargain over Syrian-made clothes and lingerie. Some shops
have Farsi on their signs and sellers usually accept the Iranian rial.
Some restaurants and shops even hang photos of Ahmadinejad.
Ahmed Zaher el-Ban, owner of a clothing store at the Hamidiyeh souk in central
Damascus, said that his business relied a lot on Iranian tourists and
businessmen who exported his products to Iran.
"I made friends with a lot of Iranian customers. They call me from Tehran at
Eid [Muslim religious feasts]," said Ahmed, who speaks Farsi fluently.
But some experts say that Syrian-Iranian economic relations are weak.
Ayman Kahef, an economist and editor-in-chief of the Syrian Days news website,
believes that canceling the visa requirement will have a positive effect on
trade, investment and tourism for both countries.
Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi said during a visit to Syria this month
that trade in goods between the two countries was about US$300 million a year,
while tourism generated $500 million.
For Kahef, bilateral economic cooperation remains relatively low. He said
"logistical obstacles" have played a fundamental role in slowing down the
exchange of goods between the countries, which on land are separated by Turkey
and Iraq.
"The difficult topography of Turkey in addition to the unstable security
situation in Iraq hinder trade routes," he said.
Other observers say that at the cultural level there are many barriers that
complicate human contacts between Syrians and Iranians.
Although the countries are overwhelmingly Muslim, each predominantly observes a
different branch of Islam - Shi'ite for Iran and Sunni for Syria. Each country
speaks a different language and Iran is a theocracy while Syria follows a
secular political system.
Most of the Iranians who flock to Damascus are observant Shi'ites on a
pilgrimage to religious sites like the mosque of Sayida Zainab, the daughter of
Imam Ali and granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad.
This limits the type of contact between the people from the two nations.
There are also less conservative Iranian tourists who come to escape the
restrictive atmosphere of their country and enjoy the more relaxed social codes
in Syria, where drinking alcohol, for instance, is permitted.
Ali Shaheen, an Iranian engineer, chose Damascus for his honeymoon with his
wife Surraia. "Although it's an Islamic country like Iran, it has many more
entertainment options and places to visit," he said, sitting at a restaurant in
downtown Damascus.
Amir Bari, a vendor from northern Iran on a visit to Syria, agrees. "I love
this city ... There are shrines, mosques and bars; I can go to the bar without
being arrested ... There are no [Islamic] Revolutionary Guards [Corps] here,"
he said.
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