Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam arrived in Tehran this morning on a previously unannounced visit During the visit, Khaddam will meet with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Tehran learned that Khaddam’s discussions with Iranian officials will focus on the Iraqi file, especially after the escalation of American accusations against both Iran and Syria of supporting the Iraqi resistance and of possessing weapons of mass destruction.
During his visit to Baghdad early this month, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld expressed his discomfort with what he described as infiltration operations of fighters into Iraq across the Syrian and Iranian borders.
Last month, the leader of the Republican majority in the US House of Representatives, Tom DeLay, called on the White House to toughen the tone against Syria and Iran to push them to take a position on the campaign undertaken by the United States against what it calls terrorism, or to bear the consequences.
It should be noted that Iranian and Syrian officials usually exchange visits in Tehran and Damascus to coordinate the positions of the two countries and strengthen cooperation in all fields.