Assad gets Iran backing as forces squeeze Aleppo rebels

By Hadeel Al Shalchi

ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - Iran has offered support to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad as his forces tried to choke off rebels in the northern city of Aleppo.

Seeking to restore his authority after suffering the gravest setbacks so far in the 17-month-old uprising, culminating in the defection of his prime minister on Monday, Assad was shown on television on Tuesday meeting a senior official from his key regional ally.

It was the first footage broadcast of the 46-year-old leader for two weeks, and came a day after Syria's new caretaker prime minister was televised chairing a hastily called cabinet session, possibly to rebut reports that other ministers had deserted along with premier Riyad Hijab.

Saeed Jalili, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Iran would not let its close partnership with the Syrian leadership to be shaken by the uprising or external foes.

"Iran will not allow the axis of resistance, of which it considers Syria to be an essential part, to be broken in any way," Syrian television quoted Jalili as saying.

The "axis of resistance" refers to Shi'ite Iran's anti-Israel alliance with Syria's rulers - from the Alawite faith which is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam - and the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006, with Iranian and Syrian support.

Damascus and Tehran have held Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab states and Turkey, all allies of the United States and European powers, responsible for the bloodshed in Syria by supporting the overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim rebels. Western powers sympathetic to the rebels are concerned that anti-Western Sunni Islamists could benefit from a victory for the anti-Assad forces.

Iran's Fars news agency said Jalili told Assad that Iran was prepared to provide humanitarian aid to Syria.