Iran 'Persuades Hezbollah to Protect Syria from Israeli Attacks in Golan Heights'

Iran has allegedly persuaded Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah to protect Syria by blocking Israeli incursions in the Golan Heights.

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei has also convinced the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to back Assad "at all costs," the Kuwaiti daily Araa reproted.

A top Arab official who is familiar with the matter said the Tehran leader encouraged Nasrallah to defend Assad during their latest meeting which took place a month ago.

Hezbollah fighters have already entered the region to strategically assist the Syrian army by cutting off rebel routes, according to reports.

Hezbollah and Iran, both Shiite-dominated, had long backed Assad, who belongs to the Alawaite minority which is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

According to Israel Radio, Tehran has invited "all Arabs and Muslims" to bolster Assad's forces in Syria's civil war.

Tehran has officially reached its "final decision" to respond to the recent alleged Israeli airstrike on Syria by "turning the Golan into a new Fatah-land. The front has become open to Syrians and Palestinians and anyone who wants to fight Israel," reported the Lebanon-based daily al-Akhbar.

The latest developments have come after Nasrallah vowed to respond to Israel's attacks on Syria while Assad pledged to supply Hezbollah with "new and quality" weapons, apparently alluding to chemical weapons.

The uprising-turned-civil war in Syria had been snowballing for the past two years, affecting the neighbouring countries.