Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
said on Wednesday that Iran has sent Syria with military equipment and provided it with expertise since a civil war first broke out in 2011.
"Iran supports Syria and the Syrian people. It stands with the Syrian state politically, economically and militarily," he said.
Assad said that Tehran's support was also essential for his regime in Syria's conflict, which has cost more than 240,000 lives since 2011.
"When we say militarily, it doesn't mean - as claimed by some in the Western media - that Iran has sent an army or armed forces to Syria. That is not true," said Assad.
Syria was the only Arab state to side with the Islamic republic during its 1980-1988 war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
Iranian media run regular reports on fighters killed in the Syrian conflict described as volunteers helping to defend Shiite holy sites in the country.