Iran security secretary arrives in Syria

DAMASCUS - Saeed Jalili, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, arrived in Syria Tuesday and is holding talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

A source in the Iranian embassy told Xinhua the talks will focus on the current situation in Syria, and mainly the case of 48 Iranian pilgrims who were snitched in Damascus on Saturday.

Jalili, who is also Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, arrived from Beirut and is expected to fly to Turkey to meet with officials there.

Iran has held Turkey and the Gulf states responsible for the kidnapping of the Iranians, citing their support to Syria's armed rebels who kidnapped the pilgrims and claimed they are from the Iranian republican guards.

Iran denied the claims and said the kidnapped people are Shiite pilgrims.

The Iranians and the Shiite people have been recently targeted in Syria by the Sunni-dominated opposition fighters, who believe that Iran is backing the regime of Assad.