Iran and Hezbollah are actively assisting Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime in cracking down on anti-government demonstrations, Military Intelligence Chief Major General Aviv Kochavi said on Tuesday.
The Islamic republic and the Lebanon-based militant group have been transferring information, technical assistance and equipment to Syria to disperse demonstrators, said Kochavi.
"The great motivation Iran and Hezbollah have to assist [Syria] comes from their deep worry regarding the implications these events might have, particularly losing control of their cooperation with the Syrians and having such events slide onto their own territories," said the MI chief.
Iran operated directly in Lebanon to help organize Nakba Day and Naksa Day events and was making every effort to prevent anti-government demonstrations in Syria from continuing.
"Iran is taking total advantage of the unrest in the Middle East to push itself deeper into the states and organizations in the [region], including Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain, Sudan, Yemen, Gaza and Iraq" said Kochavi.
Iran last week denied similar accusations made by the European Union and the United States.
Haaretz and AP
