Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Saturday that resistance to the West is on the rise in the Mideast, after a meeting in Damascus with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Al-Assad. The brief meeting, which took place at Damascus airport in the presence of Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, came two days after a US envoy sought support in Damascus for Washington's latest peace push. “The front of resistance is increasing in the region, (and) the people of the region support the policy” pursued by the Iranian and Syrian governments, Ahmadinejad said. “We have achieved a great victory because we were able to defeat the enemy plans to change” the political map in the Middle East, the Iranian president told reporters before departing the Syrian capital. Before departing Tehran, Ahmadinejad told reporters Iran's relations with Syria were “solid and strategic with a unified view on all issues.” An Iranian diplomatic source said earlier on Saturday that during their meeting, Ahmadinejad and Assad reaffirmed their strong ties and “commitment to continue consultations ... in areas of interest.” The pair expressed the need “to raise the level of economic cooperation, particularly in the fields of oil, gas, railways and tourism,” according to Syria's official SANA news agency. They also stressed it was important that Iraqi political groups soon find a way to form a coalition following inconclusive March 7 parliamentary elections to ensure the country's unity, said SANA news agency. Ahmadinejad was in Syria briefly en route for Algeria and the United States, where he is to attend next week's UN General Assembly meeting, according to Iranian state media. Ahmadinejad also said he is hopeful the United States will release several Iranians it is holding now that Tehran has freed an American jailed for more than a year and accused of spying. Before setting off for a trip to the UN General Assembly, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the release of the Iranians would be an appropriate moral gesture by Washington. “We are hopeful the Iranians there will be released and reunited with their families,” he said in a state TV interview broadcast Friday night. American Sarah Shourd was released Tuesday after more than 13 months in prison in what Iranian officials have described as a humanitarian gesture because she is said to be in ill health. Two other Americans with whom she was arrested last year - Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal - are still being held in a Tehran prison on espionage charges.
