Aug 6, 2013

TEHRAN, Iran — I met Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halki in one of Tehran’s posh hotels while he was in the Iranian capital to take part in the inauguration of President Hassan Rouhani. A few months ago, on April 29, Halki survived an assassination attempt in Damascus, so I began by asking him about his thoughts at that moment and whether he had considered ridding himself of such a burden.

Halki replied, “The assassination attempt made me more confident of what I’m doing for my country. I’m not better than the martyrs who were killed on several occasions by those criminals.” He added, “The good news is that those who made the attempt on me and other innocent Syrians are now in custody. This same group killed Sheikh Ramadan al-Bouti, and soon you’ll see [their confessions] on Syrian television.”

Conducting the interview in Iran meant we, of course, had to discuss Syrian-Iranian relations. Halki explained that this was his fifth visit to Iran and that he feels as if he is among friends and family here.

“Our relations with Iran didn’t start today. The basis of this alliance was laid by the late Imam [Ruhollah] Khomeini and the late [Syrian President] Hafez al-Assad, and now it has reached its peak with President Bashar [al-Assad] and Imam [Ali] Khamenei,” Halki offered. He elaborated, explaining that today the two countries have several bilateral economic agreements. “The last agreement was to open a $3.6 billion credit facility between Damascus and Tehran, and this will help Syria import petroleum products that we need, in addition to Iranian power-generating products and other goods.”

On the Syrian economy, Halki said that the government is doing its best amid the crisis to serve all Syrians despite their political affiliations. “We are still providing services, even in cities and areas that aren’t fully under our control.The only people we don’t serve are the terrorists.” He continued, “There is a war on the Syrian currency, a war launched by countries and large firms. The Syrian lira stood still for the first six months [of the civil war], but later we had to decide what to do. We raised salaries 28%, and we are still paying 2.5 million civil servants at the beginning of each month. We raised the number of subsidized goods from four to six.”