US believes Iran stepping up aid to Syria

Iran is stepping up its military and intelligence support for Syrian government troops in their crackdown against opposition strongholds, The Washington Post reported late Saturday.
Citing three unnamed US officials with access to intelligence reports from the region, the newspaper said Tehran had increased supplies of arms and other aid for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad as he is trying crush resistance in the key city of Homs.
A senior US official said Iran has recently dispatched members of its main intelligence service, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, to Damascus to assist in advising and training Syrian counterparts in charge of the crackdown, according to the report.
Reports supported by US intelligence findings indicate that an Iranian operative was recently wounded while working with Syrian security forces inside the country, the paper said.
"They've supplied equipment, weapons and technical assistance -- even monitoring tools -- to help suppress unrest," The Post quoted the official as saying of Iranians.