Assad's comments were reported on Syria's SANA state television Tuesday following his meeting with Saeed Jalili, a top aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader.

According to SANA, Assad said, "the Syrian people and their government are determined to purge the country of terrorists and to fight the terrorists without respite."

In the meeting, Jalili is also said to have pledged Iran's support as Syrian government forces take on Syrian rebels, in a conflict that dates back to March of last year.

"Iran will not allow the axis of resistance, of which it considers Syria to be an essential part, to be broken in any way," SANA quoted Jalili as saying. The "axis of resistance" refers to an allegiance between Iran, Syria, and the Hezbollah movement of Lebanon's Shiites.

Turning to Turkey

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was in Turkey on Tuesday to discuss Syria and the plight of a group of Iranian pilgrims who were abducted in Damascus last week.

Iran is one of the Syrian regime's staunchest allies and stands by President Bashar Assad, despite international pressure on him to step down. In contrast, Turkey is one of Assad's strongest critics and has demanded his departure.

Iran has asked Turkey and Qatar for assistance in securing the release of 48 Iranians who were abducted from a bus by Syrian rebels on Saturday. Although Iran insists the group were pilgrims, the rebels claim that they may have been military personnel.

"Turkey has its links with the opposition in Syria," Salehi said on Tuesday when he arrived in Ankara. "So we think Turkey can play a major role in freeing our pilgrims."

Words of caution

As the meetings took place between politicians on Tuesday, violence around the city of Aleppo showed no signs of slowing. Assad's forces are circling the rebels in Aleppo as part of an on-going campaign to drive the rebels out.

"The city is now fully surrounded by tanks, and Syrian troops have positioned heavy artillery and rocket launchers in areas on the outskirts of Aleppo in preparation for a major onslaught," activist Bassam Al-Halabi told the dpa news agency from Aleppo.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a press conference in Pretoria, South Africa, that "we have to set very clear expectations about avoiding sectarian warfare." Clinton was in South Africa on the last leg of a tour through the continent.

There are some fears that the Syrian conflict will be split by further divides along sectarian lines. Activists estimate over 20,000 people have died in the 17-month conflict.

mz/jr (Reuters, AFP, dpa)