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 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.