Iran’s Fars News Agency reports that a high-level Iranian parliamentary delegation left Tehran for Damascus on January 3 to hold meetings with senior Syrian officials. The chairman of Iranian Parliament's Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, heads the delegation. Other lawmakers who accompany Boroujerdi include Mohammad Ashouri Taziani, Ahmad Amirabadi-Farahani, Kamal Dehghan Firouzabadi, Abol-Fazel Hassan Beki and Ruhollah Hazratpour. According to Iran’s Fars News Agency, the Iranian delegation will meet with President Bashar al-Assad and other Syrian top officials, including the chairman of parliament and prime and foreign ministers.
Comment:
Boroujerdi, who is close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has been diligently involved in Iran’s war efforts in Syria over the past years. In October 2015, for example, he led a delegation of Iranian lawmakers to Damascus as Iranian forces prepared to bolster the Assad forces for a ground offensive in Aleppo. The Iranian media has not provided any details about the agenda of Boroujerdi’s current trip, but it may be part of Tehran’s effort to coordinate with Damascus on future war plans beyond Aleppo. The two sides will inevitably discuss pros and cons of a peace initiative being proposed by Turkey and Russia as well.
