Iran marches into Syria

Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to join a major ground offensive on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad's government, sources said yesterday, a further sign of the rapid internationalisation of a civil war in which every major country in the region has a stake. Russian planes bombed a camp run by CIA-trained rebels, the group's commander said, putting Moscow and Washington on opposing sides in a Middle East conflict for the first time since the Cold War.