Tehran announced on Wednesday that they will be opening the ‘College of Islamic Schools’ in Damascus, approximately a month after announcing the opening of several branches of the Iran-based Islamic Azad University across Syrian cities.
According to the Iranian Tasnim news agency, the head of strategic council on foreign relations, Kamel Kharrazi, announced the opening of the college during a meeting with the Syrian Minister of Religious Affairs Mohammed Abdul Sattar.
Kharrazi, who was also Iran’s foreign minister until 2005, reaffirmed the need to hold forums for scholars of “different Islamic sects”.
According to Tasnim, Abdul Sattar praised Iran’s role in Syria, and their support of the Syrian regime, announcing the date of the opening of the college in the Syrian capital in cooperation with the World Assembly for the Reapproachment of Islamic Sects.
This comes after Ali Akbar Velayati, the head of Islamic Azad University board of founders, announced that the university will be opening branches across Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
Many saw the move as a soft power strategy by Tehran to promote their ideological and political agendas, in addition to heavy military involvement in these countries as well.
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