Iran to send 4,000 troops to aid Assad's forces in Syria

Iran will be sending a first contingent of 4,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces against the largely Sunni rebellion in the civil war in the country.

The war in war-torn Syria has cost almost 100,000 lives in just over two years.

According to the Independent, Iran is now fully committed to preserving Assad's regime, pro-Iranian sources which have been deeply involved in the Islamic Republic's security said.

The sources said that the support is to the extent of proposing to open up a new 'Syrian' front on the Golan Heights against Israel.

Iranian sources pointed out that the Taliban recently sent a formal delegation for talks in Tehran and that America will need Iran's help in withdrawing from Afghanistan.

Iranians said the US will not be able to take its armour and equipment out of the country during its continuing war against the Taliban without Iran's active assistance.

The move from Iran after Washington's decision to arm Syria's Sunni Muslim rebels has plunged America into the great Sunni-Shia conflict of the Islamic Middle East.