Iran and Syria sign $3.6bn oil deal

Iran has agreed to supply Damascus with $3.6bn in oil in exchange for the right to invest in the country, Syria's state news agency SANA has said.

"An agreement was signed [on Monday] in Tehran by the Iranian and Syrian central banks, granting Syria a credit line worth $3.6bn," the agency reported on Tuesday.

The deal stipulates that Syria will pay back the cost of the oil loan "through Iranian investments of various kinds in Syria," said SANA.

It did not elaborate on what kind of investments Tehran would make.