A military chief of the Revolutionary Command Council of Syria has blamed the plight of people on the intervention of the Iranian regime's paramilitary forces in the war-torn country.

Brigadier General Mithghal al-Batish said Iran's aim was to 'annihilate or displace' the Syrian people, but that the regime would fail and 'victory is near'.

Afrin‬, ‎Aleppo‬ province, 10-05-2015: Residents of the majority-Kurdish town of Afrin in Aleppo province today staged a protest in solidarity with fellow Kurds in Mahabad in Iran over Iranian security forces' brutal repression of protests in Mahabad and other Kurdish towns and cities in Iran. Protesters in Afrin carried the Free Syrian flag (seen in picture), as well as Kurdish flags, chanting against the Iranian and Assad regimes.

10-05-2015: In preparation for the post-Assad scenario in Syria, Israeli sources have confirmed that the Israeli military is set to launch attacks on “jihadist organisations” operating in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime.

Military affairs commentator Alon Ben-David confirmed that the Israeli army and air force are currently working on preparations for a strategy to defeat a range of jihadist organisations on the assumption that these organisations will turn their weapons on Israel after the fall of the Assad regime.

By Joyce Karam, Al Arabiya

With all eyes on Washington ahead of next week’s summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and America’s traditional allies at the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC), it is the Syrian crisis that could shape its outcome without being officially on the agenda.

The Gulf leaders, who have been disappointed time and again with the Obama administration’s reluctant approach to Syria, see, according to diplomatic sources in Washington, an opportune strategic moment for requesting U.S. support on Syria in return for theirs on an Iran nuclear deal.

An Iranian Kurdish opposition leader in the Kurdistan Region has warned Tehran not to use force against peaceful protesters in Iranian Kurdistan cities.

Deputy leader of the Iranian Kurdistan Freedom Party (KFP) expressed concerns about the situation in Kurdish areas and urged demonstrations to continue until justice is done, and the Iranian army officer who caused the death of a Kurdish woman is punished.

Hezbollah's al Manar TV has been tirelessly broadcasting triumphal reports of its 'victories' in the Qalamoun region of Damascus province in coordination with Assad's forces. The Tehran-backed militia's media arm hasn't, however, been reporting the less than dignified return to Lebanon of the heaped bodies of Hezbollah mercenaries, killed there while fighting for Assad and Tehran, in the backs of pick-up trucks, as shown in this photograph taken by activists in the area.

Photo from Ahmed Mansour

Casting aside U.S. concerns about aiding extremist groups, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have converged on an aggressive new strategy to bring down Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The two countries — one a democracy, the other a conservative kingdom — have for years been at odds over how to deal with Assad, their common enemy. But mutual frustration with what they consider American indecision has brought the two together in a strategic alliance that is driving recent rebel gains in northern Syria, and has helped strengthen a new coalition of anti-Assad insurgents, Turkish officials say.

KSA, 06-05-2015: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman said on Tuesday that Gulf leaders must stand up to Iran at a conference held amid growing regional tension.

Salman’s call came at a meeting of Gulf monarchs in Riyadh also attended by French President Francois Hollande, who said his country was “by the side” of Gulf nations.

In a clear reference to Iran, Salman spoke of the need to confront an external threat that “aims to expand control and impose its hegemony,” threatening regional stability and creating “sectarian sedition.”

The Syrian regime likely decided to execute Rafik Hariri after a tense meeting between the former prime minister and Bashar Assad in August 2004, Walid Jumblatt told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Tuesday.

“I think that when [Hariri] visited Bashar Assad on Aug. 26, 2004, the death sentence was made then,” Jumblatt told the court.

But for months after the fateful meeting, Hariri thought that diplomacy could mend his fraught relationship with Damascus.

Lebanon‬, 05-05-2015: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri attacked Hezbollah Tuesday over its preparations for an anticipated large-scale battle in Syria's Qalamoun region against Nusra-led rebels, saying the fight is meant to protect the Syrian government, and not Lebanon.

“Media channels and some leaders in Lebanon have been ringing the bells for the Qalamoun hills battle, while the Syrian regime is silent,” Hariri said in a statement released by his media office.