Head of Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad met on Tuesday with Irans First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, who is in an official visit to Damascus along with his accompanying delegation. The meeting was attended by Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis and a number of ministers. The parties signed 11-long term strategic economic cooperation agreements, including industry, trade, agriculture, education, culture, housing, public works, railways, investment, and other areas. After signing the agreements, Khamis said this is a "truly historic stage" in the bilateral cooperation. He added it was "a message to the world on the reality of Syrian-Iranian cooperation," citing "legal and administrative facilitation" to benefit Iranian companies wishing to invest in Syria and contribute "effectively to its reconstruction.” The most notable among these agreements are those related to the banking sector of which Jahangiri described as "very important" and the agreement to establish a power station Latakia province on the Syrian coast. In relation to infrastructure, there was also rehabilitation of the ports of Tartus and Latakia as well as the construction of a 540-megawatt energy plant, according to Khamis. Assad said the agreements and cooperation projects signed by Damascus with Tehran hold a strategic dimension and constitute a solid economic base for Syria and Iran to face the economic war waged by some Western countries. He stressed the need to intensify joint efforts at this stage to halt their attempts to weaken the two countries. An official statement issued by the Syrian presidency said that the meeting tackled outcomes of the meetings that were held within the 14th session of Iran-Syria high joint technical committee in Damascus. Jahangiri stressed Irans determination to participate in the reconstruction phase in Syria as it participated in the war. On the other hand, the Syrian-Iranian Business Forum was launched on Tuesday in the presence of Jahangiri, Khamis and a large number of businessmen and representatives of companies from both countries.