Iran's new FM visits Lebanon, Syria on first international trip

Iran’s acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani met with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday in his first international trip.

Kani, who was in Lebanon the day before, met with Syrian officials including Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad.

Iran and Russia have been the main backers of Assad during Syria’s 13-year conflict that has killed half a million people and displaced half the population.

Over the years, Syrian government forces have taken control of most parts of the country with their help.

This is Bagheri Kani's first trip abroad.

His predecessor, Hossein Amirabdollahian, a hard-liner close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, died in a helicopter crash on May 19 in a mountainous area near Iran’s border with Azerbaijan, along with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and a delegation of other officials.