Report: Iran Says Ready to Study Any Syrian Request for Troops

Iran will consider any request from its Syrian ally for troops to help tackle a sweeping rebel offensive in the north, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.

“If the Syrian government asks us to send forces to Syria, we will study their request,” Araghchi said in an excerpt from an interview published on his official Telegram channel.

Iran and Syria have been close allies for decades and Tehran has long provided military advisors to the Syrian armed forces.

On Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran’s “military advisors were present in Syria, and they are still present” and would remain in the country “in accordance with the wishes” of its government.

The Iranian government has been portraying the rebel assault as a US-Israeli plot to destabilize the Middle East.

On Tuesday, the chief of the Iranian armed forces, General Mohammad Bagheri, called the rebel advance “dangerous for the region” according to state television.

Bagheri held separate talks on Syria with his Iraqi and Syrian counterparts, as well as the Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov.

They all said they would “take the necessary measures to support the Syrian army,” according to Iranian state television.