1 2 How Iran Keeps Assad in Power in Syria| Geneive Abdo| 29 August 2011 ↑ Iran punishes Hamas for not backing Assad| 23 August 2011 ↑ http://www.google.com/search?q=syria+iran+closest+ally&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&safe=active ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-14. Retrieved 2015-10-09. ↑ "welt.de, in german".