RUSSIA, IRAN, TURKEY
The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and the rebels’ main backer Turkey met on Saturday and agreed on the importance of Syria’s territorial integrity and on restarting a political process, they said.
But there was no indication they agreed on any concrete steps, with the situation inside Syria changing by the hour.
Russia has a naval base and airbase in Syria that have not only been important for its support of Assad, but also for its ability to project influence in the Mediterranean and Africa.
Moscow has been supporting government forces with intense air strikes but it was not clear if it could easily step up this campaign.
Iran has said it would consider sending forces to Syria, but any immediate extra assistance would likely depend on Hezbollah and Iraqi militias.
The Lebanese group sent some “supervising forces” to Homs on Friday but any significant deployment would risk exposure to Israeli airstrikes, Western officials said.
Iran-backed Iraqi militias are on high alert, with thousands of heavily armed fighters ready to deploy to Syria, many of them amassed near the border. Iraq does not seek military intervention in Syria, a government spokesman said on Friday.
Britain warned Assad that any chemical weapons use was a red line and would be met with “appropriate action”.
A rebel operations room led by the main rebel group, the militant Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al Qaeda affiliate, said in a statement that it has no intention of using chemical weapons now controlled by Syrian authorities “under any circumstances”.
