BEIRUT - The presidents of Iran and Syria on Wednesday signed a long-term strategic cooperation agreement, including a memorandum of understanding on oil industry cooperation, the Syrian state news agency reported.

The signing came during a visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Damascus for talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, in the first such visit by an Iranian head of state since war broke out in Syria in 2011.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Writing by Nadine Awadalla Editing by Gareth Jones)