Special to WorldTribune.com

Syria’s recent military gains have led its opponents, including Turkey and Gulf states, to increase their funding of anti-regime “terrorists,” Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Nov. 29.

In a meeting with a senior Iranian official in Damascus, Assad cited “important gains by the Syrian army in the fight against terrorism, with the support of its friends led by Iran and Russia,” state news agency SANA reported.

Assad added that Syria’s victories have “pushed certain countries hostile to Syria and who pretend to fight terrorism to… increase their financing and arming of terrorist groups.”

Assad has long accused Sunni Muslim countries including Turkey and Gulf nations of arming the mainly Sunni foes of his Shi’ite Alawite regime.

The Syrian president said peace in the country could only take place after “eradicating terrorism.” Assad refers to all opposition forces of his regime as “terrorists.”

Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to supreme leader Ali Khamenei, said Iran would “continue its support for the Syrian government and people, because the war against terrorism is crucial for the region and the world.”

Velayati also praised Iran for its “exceptional resistance” to “terrorists supported by regional and Western countries.”

  Alawite, Gulf states boosting support for ‘terrorists’, Shi’ite, Sunni foes, Syria’s Assad says Turkey, WorldTribune.com