Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Syrian President in Iran to Discuss Iraq, Regional Issues VOA News 02 October 2010 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) greets his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad during a welcoming ceremony for the latter in Tehran, 2 Oct 2010 Photo: AFP Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) greets his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad during a welcoming ceremony for the latter in Tehran, 2 Oct 2010 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is in Iran where he is meeting with his counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The two leaders are expected to discuss bilateral and regional issues. The Syrian president is also set to meet with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  Mr. Assad's trip comes just days after former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi visited Syria and called on Middle East leaders to stop Iran from interfering in Iraqi politics. Mr. Allawi's Iraqiya political bloc is trying to pull together enough support to form the next Iraqi government and end a political stalemate that has persisted since the March elections.  Mr. Allawi's bloc won the most seats in the March election with the support of Sunni Muslims. The bloc beat current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-dominated State of Law Alliance by only two seats. Iraq and Syria recently agreed to restore diplomatic relations that became strained after Prime Minister Maliki accused Damascus of sheltering two people he said were responsible for 2009 bombings in Baghdad that killed 100 people. Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters. .