Iran and Syria enter mutual defence pact

At the bottom of the Debka Post on chemical weapons was this report that I feel should have been giving top billing:

DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military sources report that Assad is resolved more than ever to stand fast after the shot in the arm he received last week from Tehran.

Iran’s National Security Adviser Saeed Jalili visited Damascus Aug. 6-7 to ascertain that Syria would strike Israel and US military targets in the region with all its might if they attacked Iran.
Assad was ready to offer this pledge, but demanded in return that Tehran guarantee to exercise all its military capabilities to save him from any military or covert attempts to end his rule – whenever it was requested.

Jalili promised him that guarantee. He also held a similar conversation with HIzballah’s Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.

Thus the Syrian War cannot be viewed in isolation from the probable attack on Iran