Syria and Iran discuss military links

DAMASCUS, Mar 11 (Reuters) President Bashar al-Assad met Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Najjar today to discuss military links between the two countries, the official Syrian news agency said.

Najjar is the latest high level Iranian official to visit Syria, which has been reinforcing ties with Tehran as the two countries come under pressure from the United States.

''The meeting between the president and a delegation headed by Najjar discussed the cooperation between the Syrian Arab Army and the Iranian army and ways to strengthen friendship between the two sides,'' the SANA agency said.

The two countries support the Lebanese movement Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas and have links to a number of players in Iraq.

Western diplomats in Damascus say Syria has been improving its arsenal, especially after last year's war between Hezbollah and Israel. Iran has been upgrading its military capability, with the United States not ruling out the use of force to stop its nuclear programme.

Iran and Syria, which are under US sanctions, attended a conference in Baghdad along with the United States yesterday to discuss stopping violence in Iraq.

Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi was in Damascus last week and Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari is due to visit Tehran in a few days.

REUTERS SP RAI1954