Iran stepping up Syria support, Hillary Clinton warns

Outgoing US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks on "American leadership" on January 31, 2013 at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. Iran is stepping up its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Russia is continuing to send money and arms to the regime, Clinton warned Thursday. -- AFP

Iran is stepping up its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Russia is continuing to send money and arms to the regime, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Thursday.

"The Iranians have made it clear for some time that keeping Assad in power was one of their highest priorities. We believe they have acted on that by sending in more personnel, not only to help Assad, but to support and advise military security forces," Clinton said.

"We have reason to believe that the Russians continue to supply financial and military assistance in the form of equipment to Assad," she added, at a briefing for a small group of journalists including AFP.