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Syria is hosting its first international trade fair in five years, a sign of increased stability in the embattled nations capital and a statement of victory from the government, which has been embroiled in awar with armed opposition groups and jihadists since 2011.

Despite ongoing violence between the Syrianarmy and insurgentsin the citys suburbs, the 59th Damascus International Fair was set to commence Thursday, claiming to host representatives of 23 nations and companies from 20 more. Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis, who was appointed last year by President Bashar al-Assad, said the event marked a major turning point for the country and that nations such as Russia and Iran, which supported Assad and his army throughout the war, would be given priority in securing trade deals to invest in Syria, according to state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

Related: Russia and Syria target ISIS territory as big as two U.S. states

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We must be partners of the Syrian Arab Army in victory and establishing the best future for our people andfuture generations, Khamis said Wednesday in a press statement, accordingto SANA. For this, we have made a commitment to introduce an exceptional international exhibition worthy of our country, history, culture and love for life and peace."

Preparations for the Damascus International Fair in the countryside of the Syrian capital, on August 10. The fair will reportedly host 43 nations directly or indirectly and is the first such event to take place in five years in the war-torn country. LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images

The list of nations involved either directly or through businesses included traditionally pro-opposition countries such as France, Germany and Spain in the West as well as Bahrain, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East, but made no mention of the U.S. Washington, along with a number of governments reportedly represented at the fair, have accused Assad and his government of perpetrating human rights abuses and potential war crimes. As a result, Syria has been the subject of numerous economic sanctions, but a number of international actors have either continued to strike deals with the Syrian government or have renewed relations as its prospects improved in the conflict.

In addition to Russia and Iran, countries like Belarus, China, the Czech Republic, India and Japan have also invested in Syria in recent years, according to The Times. Talk of rebuilding Syrias devastated infrastructure has increasingly surfaced, as the countrysarmed forces and their allies, including pro-government militias, retake territory nationwide from rebels and jihadists, especially the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), This years trade fair marks the first time since 1954 that visiting countries will be permitted to sell their products.

Assad is trying to project confidence and a business-as-usual attitude, Sami Nader, head of the Beirut-based Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, told Bloomberg News. The trade fair is sending a message that the new era of Syrias reconstruction has begun and Assad is here to stay.

Smoke billows following a reported air strike by Syrian government forces in the rebel-held parts of the Jobar district, on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, on August 9. Parts of the Syrian capital remain under rebel control and continue to see fierce fighting between Syrias armed forces and insurgents. AMMAR SULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images

Coinciding with the fairs opening, Khamis met with Lebanese Minister of IndustryHussein al-Hajj Hassan to discuss greater economic ties between the neighboring countries. The meeting also included Syrian Minister of Industry Ahmed Al-Hamo,Secretary General of the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council Nassri Al-Khouri and Director of Relations in the Council Ahmad Al-Haj Hassan. After discussions, the Lebanese minister called the Damascus International Fair evidence of Syrias political, economic, military and security recovery, according to Lebanon 24. The Syrian and Lebanese armies are both involved in operations to clear ISIS from their mutual border but receive backing from opposing international powers and maintain no formal alliance.

Despite heightened tensions between U.S.-backed forces in Syria and those supported by Russia and Iranin recent months, Washington and Moscow established a ceasefire between the Syrian militaryand rebels battling in the countrys southwest in July. The lull in fighting has allowed both pro-government forces and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish coalition of Arabs and ethnic minorities, to concentrate on dismantling the remains of ISISs self-proclaimed caliphate. U.S. officials, however, have remained deeply critical of Assad even after pledging closer cooperation with Russia, and have called for his eventual removal from power.

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Russia, Iran, Other Assad Allies and Enemies Cash In on Success in Syria, But US Left Out - Newsweek

ANKARA Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi called off his hunger strike on Thursday after authorities accepted one of his demands and withdrew security agents from his home where he has been held since 2011, his website said.

ANKARA Turkey and Iran have agreed to boost military cooperation after talks in Ankara this week between the Iranian armed forces chief of staff and Turkish leaders, President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said on Thursday.

LONDON Mehdi Karroubi, a detained Iranian opposition leader, started a hunger strike on Wednesday and wants to be out on trial rather than remain under house arrest where he has been held since 2011, his son told Reuters.

ANKARA Turkish and Iranian military leaders held talks on Wednesday over cooperation in the Syrian conflict and counter-terrorism, officials said, during a rare visit to NATO-member Turkey by the Islamic Republic's military chief of staff.

DUBAI Iran could abandon its nuclear agreement with world powers "within hours" if the United States imposes any more new sanctions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday.

JERUSALEM An Israeli television report said on Tuesday that Iran is building a facility in northwest Syria to manufacture long-range rockets, and showed satellite images it said were of the site under construction.

BAGHDAD The governor of the oil city of Basra has stepped down and gone to Iran after Iraq's anti-corruption body began investigating graft allegations against him, people close to him and officials said on Tuesday.

DUBAI More than 150 Iranian current and former BBC staff and contributors have been barred from major financial transactions in Iran, an Iranian court order seen by Reuters showed, in a fresh step against foreign media seen as hostile to Tehran.

LONDON/DUBAI Islamic State is seeking to radicalize disaffected ethnic minorities in majority Shi'ite Iran to encourage attacks intended to avenge Tehran's offensive against the group across the Middle East.

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Iran | Reuters.com

Rouhani issued the warning in a televised speech to Iran's parliament Tuesday, kicking off a vote-of-confidence session for nominated ministers of his second-term cabinet.

"Iran could quit the nuclear deal within hours if the US imposes more sanctions," Rouhani said, according to Iran's state-run Press TV.

"Iran has remained and will remain committed to the deal, though any breach of promise by other parties will receive appropriate responses," he added, according to Iran's semi-official MEHR news agency.

He also suggested the US was an unreliable partner, according to MEHR, citing the Trump administration's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and new restrictions imposed by the US on Cuba.

Rouhani was a key architect of the 2015 nuclear agreement with the United States, the European Union and other partners.

The deal led to the lifting of most international sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

In response, Iran's parliament passed a bill Sunday outlining plans to "counter US terrorist measures in the region," according to Iran's state-run Press TV.

The US has accused Iran of stoking chaos in the Middle East and condemned the country's support for US-designated terrorist groups, militias and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"The United States remains deeply concerned about Iran's malign activities across the Middle East, which undermine regional stability, security and prosperity," US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement in July.

"The actions of the US regarding the implementation [of the nuclear deal] show that the US can't be trusted," Rouhani said. "The world should know that any abrogation pertaining to the agreement would face the unanimous reaction of the nation and the government of Iran."

CNN's Hilary Clarke contributed to this report.

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Rouhani: Iran may quit nuclear deal if new sanctions imposed ...

One of Irans leading opposition politicians called off a hunger strike from his hospital bed on Thursday after intelligence officials agreed to withdraw agents from his house, where he has been under arrest for six years.

Mehdi Karroubi, a 79-year-old who suffers from heart disease and was recently outfitted with a pacemaker, was hospitalized Thursday morning with high blood pressure, hours after beginning the hunger strike.

He demanded that authorities remove the 12 intelligence agents posted around the clock at his home and set a date for him to stand trial, said his son, Mohammad Taghi Karroubi. The elder Karroubi, who led a protest movement after the disputed 2009 presidential election, has been held with no charges.

The strike generated such a public outcry that officials from the intelligence and health ministries visited Karroubi on Thursday evening for negotiations, according to the Saham news agency, which is close to the Karroubi family.

Karroubis son tweeted afterward that officials promised to expend all their efforts to give him a public trial. But no date was set, and it seemed likely that the ailing opposition leader would remain under house arrest indefinitely, albeit with a smaller security presence.

Karroubi would remain in the cardiac care unit of Shahid Rajaie Hospital in northern Tehran for 48 hours for observation, his son said.

The hunger strike, though brief, intensified pressure against Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who has frustrated his supporters by failing to enact many of the reforms he promised, including the release of Karroubi and two other opposition leaders.

During his reelection campaign this year, Rouhani supporters wore green armbands to rallies and demanded the release of Karroubi, former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard leaders of the so-called Green Movement.

Karroubi and Mousavi are reformists who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2009 against incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a disputed election that was followed by widespread protests. Two years later, in the wake of the Arab Spring unrest elsewhere in the Arab world, they were placed under house arrest, where they have been held without charges.

Rouhanis failure to secure the opposition leaders release underscores his limited powers despite winning two national elections. Many of the presidents reform-minded supporters have grown disillusioned after he named an all-male Cabinet, believing he is being outmaneuvered by the hard-line clerics and security officials who guide Irans theocracy.

This February, three months before the election, the countrys supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected calls for national reconciliation, indicating that the Green Movement leaders would remain under arrest.

Ali Motahari, the deputy speaker of Irans parliament, wrote on Instagram that Karroubis hunger strike should be a warning to those who insist on the continuation of his house arrest.

People close to Karroubis family had said he was receiving nutrients via intravenous drip while in his hospital bed. But they were worried that complications from hypertension and heart disease could endanger his life.

If he passes away, Rouhanis supporters will withdraw their support, Siavash Ramesh, an outspoken political activist, said before the strike ended. They will be convinced that Rouhani and his gang are a bunch of liars who bagged votes and did nothing for those under house arrest.

Special correspondent Mostaghim reported from Tehran, and Times staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Twitter: @SBengali

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UPDATES:

8:50 a.m.: This article was updated after the hunger strike ended.

This article was originally published at 6:45 a.m.

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79-year-old Iranian opposition leader calls off hunger strike but will remain under house arrest - Los Angeles Times

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran could abandon its nuclear agreement with world powers "within hours" if the United States imposes any more new sanctions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday.

"If America wants to go back to the experience (of imposing sanctions), Iran would certainly return in a short time - not a week or a month but within hours - to conditions more advanced than before the start of negotiations," Rouhani told a session of parliament broadcast live on state television.

Iran says new U.S. sanctions breach the agreement it reached in 2015 with the United States, Russia, China and three European powers in which it agreed to curb its nuclear work in return for the lifting of most sanctions.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the new U.S. sanctions were unrelated to the Iran nuclear deal and that Iran must be held responsible for "its missile launches, support for terrorism, disregard for human rights, and violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions."

"Iran cannot be allowed to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage ... The nuclear deal must not become 'too big to fail'," Haley said in a statement on Tuesday, responding to Rouhani.

Haley will travel to Vienna next week to discuss Iran's nuclear activities with U.N. atomic watchdog officials as part of Washington's review of Tehran's compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "considers the (Iran nuclear deal) to be one of the utmost diplomatic achievements in our collective search for peace and security," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

"We need to do whatever we can to preserve it," Dujarric said.

The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on six Iranian firms in late July for their role in the development of a ballistic missile program after Tehran launched a rocket capable of putting a satellite into orbit.

In early August, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law new sanctions on Iran, Russia and North Korea passed by the U.S. Congress. The sanctions in that bill also target Iran's missile programs as well as human rights abuses.

The United States imposed unilateral sanctions after saying Iran's ballistic missile tests violated a U.N. resolution, which endorsed the nuclear deal and called upon Tehran not to undertake activities related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such technology.

It stopped short of explicitly barring such activity.

Iran denies its missile development breaches the resolution, saying its missiles are not designed to carry nuclear weapons.

"The world has clearly seen that under Trump, America has ignored international agreements and, in addition to undermining the (nuclear deal), has broken its word on the Paris agreement and the Cuba accord ... and that the United States is not a good partner or a reliable negotiator," Rouhani said.

Trump said last week he did not believe that Iran was living up to the spirit of the nuclear deal.

Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Angus MacSwan and James Dalgleish

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Iran could quit nuclear deal in 'hours' if new U.S. sanctions ...