SYRIA and Iran are reported to be planning to construct a strategic oil pipeline from Iran across Iraq and Syria to the Mediterranean. A Syrian-Iranian Committee has discussed the oil pipeline plan in co-operation with the Iraqi government, with a view that all three countries – Syria, Iran, and Iraq – would benefit from the project. The deal is understood to have been included in a memorandum of understanding recently signed between Syria and Iran in the fields of oil, gas and petrochemicals in a bid to continue and develop cooperation in this respect. At its late-February meeting in Damascus, the committee also discussed the possibility of building a strategic gas line across Iraq and Syria to link it to the Arab Gas Line which is under construction to transport Egyptian gas through Syria and Jordan. The oil pipeline project comes as Syria and Iran are boosting bilateral economic ties, marked by high-level official visits between the two countries. During the three-day visit by the Iranian First Vice President Parviz Davoudi to Syria in late February, the two sides signed preferential trade agreements and several accords on finance, industry, power, textile, oil, environment, and culture.