Hague Says Iran, Hizbullah Increasing Support for Assad Regime

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday that Iran and Hizbullah were "propping up" Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"It is very clear that the Syrian regime is receiving a great deal of support, increasing support in recent months from outside Syria from Hizbullah and Iran,” Hague said in a news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh in Amman.

He said the Assad regime “is increasingly dependent on external support."

The regime “is being propped up by others outside, further undermining its legitimacy. It also shows that is a crisis that is increasing the threat to regional stability."

Hague stressed that Assad needs to go.

“We have never been able to see any solution which involves him staying," He told the press conference ahead of a meeting of the Friends of Syria group.

His comments came against the backdrop of a major push by Syrian regime forces and its Hizbullah allies to retake the rebel stronghold of Qusayr in central Homs province bordering Lebanon.

Hizbullah has dispatched its fighters to bolster regime troops for the battle for the town, which lies between Damascus and the Mediterranean coast.