Wearing masks and adhering to social distancing guidelines, Iranian Foreign minister Javad Zarif and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad met in Damascus on Monday in what experts saw as Iran’s attempt to reassert its influence and reach in the war-torn country despite the pandemic.
The meeting focused on the coronavirus pandemic. Both men, according to the Syrian official news agency, bashed the West’s response to the pandemic.
Mr Al Assad told Mr Zarif that the coronavirus crisis has exposed the failure of the Western regimes as well as their immorality.
The Iranian top diplomat attacked the US for its “continuing refusal to lift the blockade on Syria and Iran” which he argued “has revealed its inhumane nature to the world.” Iran has largest number of cases in the region with more than 83,000 reported and at least 5,200 deaths from the virus.
The in-person visit came as representatives of Turkey, Russia and Iran prepared to meet online as part of the Astana process.
The Syrian news agency said it addressed benchmarks in the Syrian peace process and developments in the north of Syria particularly "continuing transgressions by Turkey against Syria’s sovereignty and territory".
The US was quick to denounce the meeting. US special envoy on Syria James Jeffrey accused Iran of double dealing.
“If Iran were truly concerned about the health and safety of the Syrian people, it would support the UN-led process…withdraw IRGC, Hezbollah, and other Iran-backed terrorist forces under its command from the entirety of Syria,” Mr Jeffrey said.
“Iran's only contributions to Syria have been violence and instability.”
Mr Jeffrey defended the US response to the pandemic, saying the US had allocated more than $10.6 billion in aid since the crisis. "We continue to offer humanitarian assistance to help address the coronavirus outbreak, while the Assad regime, Russia, and Iran obstruct aid and starve the Syrian people of food and medicine,” he said.
Experts saw the meeting as an opportunity for Iran to prove that its influence in Syria is not affected by the pandemic.
Nicholas Heras, Middle East director at the Institute for the Study of War, argued that Mr Zarif is signalling the US government in his visit. “Iran is using this meeting to send the signal to the US in particular that it is carrying on the business of 'resistance as usual’,” he said.
"Iran is seeking to demonstrate that the Covid-19 crisis has not impeded its ability to execute its regional strategy to confront what it perceives as its opponents, especially the US and Israel."
Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, saw the meeting as an expression of both sides “sticking together” during the pandemic.
"Both those regimes are facing unprecedented pressures due to the combination of the Covid-19 outbreak, related work-stoppages that are harming these frail and deeply corrupt economies, and the US sanctions," Ms Tsurkov told The National.
“Iran is also suffering due to the collapse in oil prices and Syria's useful economy has been significantly destroyed.” This reality, the expert argued, makes it only logical for “both of these regimes to stick closer together as they try to weather this storm without too many other allies.”
Match info
Manchester United 1
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Wolves 1
Moutinho (53')
Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
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Saturday, August 3 - First T20i, Amstelveen
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The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
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Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
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A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Who: France v Italy
When: Friday, 11pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
