BY BRIAN MURPHY

12 - 12:16am

BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad made his first appearance on state TV in nearly three weeks Tuesday in a show of solidarity with a senior Iranian envoy even as the U.S. secretary of state urged stepped up international planning for the regime’s collapse. The contrasts couldn’t have been more vivid: Assad and Iran’s Saeed Jalili vowing to defeat the rebels and their backers, while Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton predicted Assad’s regime was quickly unraveling, with high-level defections such as his prime minister’s switch to the rebel side.

Syrian prime minister's defection was months in planning 08/07/12 - 12:04am

BEIRUT — Syria’s prime minister began planning his break from the regime two months ago when Bashar Assad offered him the post and an ultimatum: Take the job or die. The full scope of Riad Hijab’s carefully executed flight to the rebel side — described by an aide who escaped with him to Jordan — reverberated Monday through Syria’s leadership. Hijab became the highest-ranking government official to defect, emboldening the opposition and raising fresh questions about the regime’s ability to survive the civil war.

Al-Qaida papers highlight tense dealings with Iran 05/05/12 - 12:18am

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — In the rigid enemy-or-ally world view of Osama bin Laden and his chief lieutenants, Iran occupied a spot somewhere in between — a state seen as arrogant, enigmatic and driven by self interest, according to newly released al-Qaida documents. Yet there is also a sense that al-Qaida recognizes the importance of Iran’s role in the region and the need to keep some level of dialogue.

New claims suggest sweep of Iran's covert plots 02/22/12 - 1:13am

BEIRUT — Piece by piece, the tools for an alleged Iranian-directed murder team were smuggled into Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea. A sniper rifle with silencer. Pistols. Sixteen pieces of plastic explosives and detonators. Finally came a dossier with photos, names and exacting details — down to workplace drawings — for Israeli targets in the capital of Azerbaijan.

Iranian protesters storm British Embassy in Tehran 11/30/11 - 1:23am

TEHRAN, Iran — Hard-line Iranian protesters stormed British diplomatic compounds Tuesday, hauling down the Union Jack, torching an embassy vehicle and pelting buildings with petrol bombs in what began as an apparent state-approved show of anger over the latest Western sanctions to punish Tehran for defiance over its nuclear program. The hours-long assault on the British Embassy and a residential complex for staff — in chaotic scenes reminiscent of the seizing of the U.S. Embassy in 1979 — could push already frayed diplomatic ties toward the breaking point.