No surprise here. The Syria/Iran axis has long been established. The Alawite leadership of Syria owes a debt of gratitude to the Shi'ite mullahs for certifying the Islamic bona fides of the Alawites; the cordial relationship stems from that, as well as, of course, a mutual hatred of Israel. From [1] AP, with thanks to Report:

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria asserted Thursday that Iran had a right to atomic technology and said Western objections to Tehran's nuclear ambitions were not persuasive.

President Bashar Assad of Syria, a longtime Iranian ally facing its own international criticism, said he backed Tehran's moves toward nuclear power and wanted to strengthen ties.

``We support Iran regarding its right to peaceful nuclear technology,'' Assad said at a news conference with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the start of two days of meetings. ``It is the right of Iran and any other state to own nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Countries that object to that have not provided a convincing or logical reason.''

How about this for a reason, Bashar: we wouldn't like to see the mushroom clouds over Israel that we know your friend Ahmadinejad wants to make a reality. Nor would we like to see them anywhere else.