The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, arrived in Syria for talks with President Bashar al-Assad and other officials, Iranian state television IRIB said. The senior Iranian official told President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday that Syria was a vital partner in Tehran's regional anti-Israeli alliance, which Iran would not allow to be broken. "Iran will not any allow the axis of resistance, of which it considers Syria to be an essential part, to be broken in any way," it quoted Jalili as telling Assad. On the Iranian pilgrims abducted recently in Syria, Iran said those captured when their bus was commandeered were pilgrims visiting a Shiite shrine on the outskirts of Damascus. On Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry said it holds the US. responsible for the fate of the abducted Iranians. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is to visit Turkey on Tuesday for previously unscheduled talks expected to focus on Syria and a group of Iranians seized by rebels there, an Iranian diplomat in Ankara said. Iran's state IRNA news agency said the ministry summoned the Swiss envoy in Tehran late Monday to stress that Iran expects Washington to use its influence to secure the Iranians' release. The Swiss look after U.S. interests in Iran since Tehran and Washington have no diplomatic relations. Syrian rebels claimed three of the Iranian captives were killed on Monday during shelling by government forces in Damascus and its suburbs, and threatened to kill the remaining Iranians unless the army stopped its bombardment. However the spokesperson's claim that three of the captives were killed could not be independently verified. An official at the Iranian Embassy in Damascus said he had no information on the subject.
On the Field: Fighting in Aleppo spread to new areas Tuesday as rebels try to expand their hold inside Syria's largest city despite two weeks of withering counterattacks by President Bashar Assad's troops, activists said. Heavily armed government troops have been steadily shelling rebel-controlled parts of the city, particularly Salaheddine and other districts on the southwestern edge of Aleppo, for more than two weeks as the two sides fight for control over the strategic city. In brazen, daylight attack, rebels this week abducted a group of 48 Iranians near Damascus, branding them as spies assisting in Assad's crackdown against the rebels. While skirmishes were reported in the Syrian capital overnight and its suburbs Tuesday, the main battle has now moved to Aleppo, some 350 kilometers north of Damascus where rebels seized several neighborhoods two weeks ago and have proved difficult to dislodge. Meanwhile, a Turkish official said that more than 1,300 Syrians fled to Turkey overnight to escape spreading violence. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules. The new arrivals would increase the number of Syrians who have found refuge in Turkey close to 48,000. Turkey is also a staging ground for rebels fighting Bashar Assad's regime The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says fighting has extended to new parts of Aleppo, which is close to the border with Turkey. AP/REUTERS For the full LBCI report, watch the video above.