DHAKA: Iran has allowed Syria’s regime to station fighter jets on its territory to keep them safe from foreign attack, German intelligence services believe according to a media report Sunday.

News portal Spiegel Online said the report, marked ‘classified’, pointed to close military ties between Damascus and Tehran beyond the deployment of Iran-backed Hezbollah militia on the side of regime forces.

The German intelligence paper reportedly said Iran had also sent elite troops from its Revolutionary Guard to support the forces of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad.

The intelligence report also said a source had reported that a Syria-Iran military deal from November 2012 allowed Al Assad ‘to station large parts of his air force on safe Iranian territory and to use them when needed’, said Spiegel Online, reports gulfnews.com.

The weekly news magazine Spiegel, meanwhile, published an interview with Assad in which he again denied responsibility for deadly chemical weapons attacks in late August, accusing rebels whom he labels terrorists of being behind them.

BDST: 1809 HRS, OCT 06, 2013
RoR/SRS