TEHRAN -- Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani announced here on Sunday that he would be visiting the friendly country of Syria in the near future on the Syrian president’s official invitation.

At this juncture, in which the enemies of Islam are trying to pressure Iran and Syria, as two strategic countries in the Middle East and supporters of the innocent Palestinian nation, bilateral relations as well as mutual cooperation in making regional decisions can help efforts to maintain unity and security in the region, with the assistance of other Islamic countries, the EC chairman said in a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In conclusion, Rafsanjani expressed confidence that, as the son of the late Hafiz Assad and in line with the policy of logical interaction with Islamic countries and the rest of the world, Bashar Assad would do his best to defend the national interests of his country and to ensure Syria safely passes through the current critical situation.