The Syrian regime and Iran yesterday agreed and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build new cities and suburbs in Syria.

The MoU was signed during a meeting by the Syrian-Iranian Joint Committee in the field of Public Works and Housing began at the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development in Tehran. The meeting was attended by the Syrian public works and housing minister, Suhail Abdullatif, and Iran’s roads and urban development minister, Mohammad Eslami.

The move was reported to have aimed at “promoting bilateral cooperation and achieving a qualitative leap in the field of construction and building suburbs and cities as required by the reconstruction phase in Syria.”

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“There are many areas and opportunities for bilateral cooperation,” Abdullatif said, adding that the “obstacles to the progress of cooperation must be removed by implementing executive plans for housing and public services projects in Syria.”

The announcement has raised concerns among Syrian activists of what they described as “potential demographic changes” in the war-torn country.