Assad in Tehran ...

"... But Hezbollah remains the lynchpin of Syria's alliance with Iran, having acted as a formidable proxy force in conflicts with Israel - most recently in the 2006 war.
A Damascus-based diplomat said neither Syria nor Iran wants to see Hezbollah compromised by a domestic row over an international tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister.
Hezbollah officials said the tribunal could indict some of the group's members, tainting its credibility, and hinted that an indictment could plunge Lebanon into renewed instability.
"Syria does not want Lebanon to go haywire and Iran does not want Hezbollah weakened by domestic conflicts as a force against Israel," the diplomat said...."