TEHRAN, February 29, 2004 (RIA Novosti corr. Nikolai Terekhov) - Iran is set to step up military cooperation with Syria and Lebanon, said Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani.
Iran, Syria and Lebanon have maintained friendly relations in the political, cultural and defense spheres. Moreover, the said countries' senior officials held talks recently discussing ways to further consolidate their cooperation in the defense sphere, Mr Shamkhani said after a tour of Syria and Lebanon.
He reported on an Iranian-Syrian agreement on consolidating military contacts in the next five years, which was signed during his visit.
Moreover, Lebanon is setting up a committee to look into the Lebanese armed forces' needs, capabilities and extent of being equipped. The idea behind the establishment of the committee is to create the Lebanese national armed forces.
