Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Assad in Iran, May Help French Woman on Trial | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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TEHRAN, Iran, (AP) – Iran’s state radio says Syrian President Bashar Assad has arrived in Tehran to congratulate his ally Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his re-election as president.

Assad is likely to lobby for the release of Clotilde Reiss, a French academic on trial with more than 100 politicians, journalists and activists accused of involvement in a “velvet revolution” to overthrow the Islamic leadership.

Reiss was released last week on bail but judicial authorities have barred her from leaving the country.

Syria is Iran’s closest Arab ally. France last week thanked Syria for helping win the release from jail of a French-Iranian employee of the French embassy in Tehran. The woman is a defendant in the same trial as Reiss.