The Syrian parliament speaker will pay an official visit to Iran soon to hold talks with senior officials of the Islamic Republic, the Iranian parliament speaker's special advisor on international affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, says.
He added on Sunday that Hadiya Khalaf Abbas would travel to Tehran as the first female Syrian parliament speaker at the invitation of her Iranian counterpart, Ali Larijani.
“During her visit to Tehran, the Syrian parliament speaker will hold consultations [with Iranian officials] on the latest parliamentary and political interactions between Tehran and Damascus,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
The top Syrian parliamentarian’s visit to Tehran will come after Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of the Iranian Parliament's Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, traveled to Damascus in August and held talks with senior Syrian officials including President Bashar al-Assad, the country's parliament speaker, Prime Minister Imad Khamis and Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict. Back in 2014, the UN said it would no more update its death toll for Syria because it could not verify the figures that it received from various sources.
A week-long truce, brokered by Russia and the US, came to an end across Syria on September 19.
Damascus refused to extend the deal after its military base was hit by US-led airstrikes near the eastern city Dayr al-Zawr in violation of the agreement.
In recent months, the Takfiri militants have suffered major setbacks as the Syrian army has managed to liberate several areas.