On visit to UK, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says there is no Iranian fighting force ‘as such’ in Syria but advisers are helping Bashar al-Assad’s army

Iran has boosted the number of military advisers it has sent to Syria where it is determined to help defeat “terrorism”, a senior official has confirmed, while insisting that the future of Bashar al-Assad can be decided only by the Syrian people.

In an interview with the Guardian during a visit to London, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, said there was “no [Iranian] fighting force, as such,” on the ground. But he said advisers were helping the Syrian army. Recent reports have described Tehran sending in thousands of troops, though many are Shia militiamen from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Amir-Abdollahian lashed out at Saudi Arabia, Iran’s longstanding regional rival and a leading supporter of anti-Assad rebel groups, saying that its “radical policies” had encouraged the growth of al-Qaida and Isis.

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This article was written by Ian Black for The Guardian on Oct. 21, 2015. Ian Black is the Guardian's Middle East editor. In more than 25 years on the paper he has also been its European editor, diplomatic editor, foreign leader writer and Middle East correspondent.