DAMASCUS, Jan. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Syria and Iran have agreed to launch joint projects in oil and land and air transport, the official Syria Times newspaper reported on Friday.

    Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Ottri was quoted by the paper as saying that the agreement came after summit talks between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his visiting Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday.

    On commercial exchange, Ottri said that a free-trade agreement is also expected to be inked.

    Close ties between Iran and Syria can be dated back to the Iran-Iraq war during 1980-1988, when Syria sided with Tehran against Iraq which was then ruled by Saddam Hussein.

    The two countries also witnessed gradually improved economic cooperation and bilateral trade volume reached 210 million U.S.dollars in 2005, according to Syria's official al-Thawra newspaper.

    Ahmadinejad started a two-day official visit to Syria on Thursday in a bid to strengthen political and economic relations as Tehran and Damascus both face mounting international pressures.Enditem