The paper said U.S. officials say the Iranian regime is dispatching increasing numbers of trainers and advisers — including members of its elite Quds Force — into Syria to help crush anti-government demonstrations that are threatening to topple the Iranian regime’s most important ally in the region.
The aid includes not only weapons and riot gear but also sophisticated surveillance equipment that is helping Syrian authorities track down opponents through their Facebook and Twitter accounts, the sources told the Washington Post.
“Iranian-assisted computer surveillance is believed to have led to the arrests of hundreds of Syrians seized from their homes in recent weeks,” the Post said.
“The new assertions — provided by two U.S. officials and a diplomat from an allied nation, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive intelligence — are clearly aimed at suggesting deepening involvement of Iranian military personnel in Syria’s brutal crackdown against anti-Assad demonstrators.”
The Post added that in the account provided by the diplomat and the U.S. officials, the Iranian regime’s military trainers were being brought to Damascus to instruct Syrians in techniques Iran used against uprisings in Iran in 2009.
Officers from the Iranian regime’s notorious Quds Force have played a key role in Syria’s crackdown since at least mid-April, U.S. and allied officials told the Washington Post.