The Assad regime has signed an agreement for military cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran, during a meeting in Damascus between the Defense Ministers of the two countries. After the signing of the agreement, Iran’s top defense official Amir Hatami declared the agreement would “pave the way for the new establishment of the Syrian defense industries,” while claiming that “the world’s war against Syria has not yet ended.” A senior Syrian official revealed that Hatami’s visit was meant to send a message of increased military cooperation between the Iran and Syria, in response to demands by Israel and the United States to remove Iranian forces from the war-torn-country. Confirming the statement by the Syrian official, the Iranian Defense Minister announced in an interview to the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen satellite channel that “axis of resistance is prepared and ready to always respond to any attack against Syria.” Minister Hatami stressed that “The presence of the Iranian forces in Syria is in accordance with a request in Damascus, and no other country has the right to express an opinion on this presence.” Furthermore, Hatami also directly addressed the threat of Israeli attacks against Iran, which has been a chief sponsor of the Lebanese Shi’ite organization Hezbollah, which openly calls for Israel’s destruction. He said, “According to my knowledge of Iran’s capabilities, in my opinion (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s threats of attacks against Iran are far from reality,” while vowing to respond to any future attacks by Israel, with force. On the matter of Tehran’s relations with Moscow, the Iranian top defense official underscored that while his country had good relations with Russia in the past, “now they are only getting better.”