DAMASCUS, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami arrived in Syria on Sunday to meet top Syrian officials with various issues on the agenda, including expanding military and defense cooperation.

Upon arriving at the Damascus airport, Hatami said his visit aims at discussing bilateral relations as Syria has transitioned to the reconstruction phase.

He said the Iranian side hopes to be able to have a productive role in the reconstruction of Syria.

Hatami later met with his Syrian counterpart, General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, during which the Syrian minister said "we have defeated terrorism with the support of the axis of resistance," referring to the alliance between Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

Ayyoub said the victories in Syria have "sparked the fears of the enemies including the United States and the Zionist entity (Israel)," according to War Media, the media wing of the Syrian army and its allies.

"The relations between Syria and Iran are firm and sturdy and we won't allow any power to undermine it," he said.

For his part, Hatami said the "relations between both countries have surpassed the traditional limit and reached to the stage of a strategic relationship."

He added that the "resistance front has stood with the Syrian people to fight terrorism for eight years, which made us win over terrorism and preserve the stability and security in the region and even in the world."

The Iranian minister noted that "the liberation of the Syrian territories from terrorism will lead to achieving a full stability to the security of the region and eliminating all pretexts for foreign intervention."

"Iran will not hesitate to preserve the unity of Syria because the security in this country will be conducive to achieving the stability in the region," Hatami said.

The visit of the Iranian minister comes at a time when the Syrian army has achieved major progress with the help of Iran and Russia as well as Hezbollah.

The Syrian army is now poised for launching a massive offensive against the Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria.

The visit also comes as the United States, Britain and France have made new threats of force in case of any chemical weapons use by the Syrian forces, an allegation that is seen by Damascus as a pretext to strike Syria over "lies."

The Russian Defense Ministry has also warned that the rebels are planning an attack with chemical substances to frame the Syrian government forces and draw in foreign strikes by the United States and its allies similar to what happened in April.