More details emerge on Iran's increased influence in quelling Syrian dissent:
The claim came as Syria's security forces backed by tanks intensified operations to suppress unrest in three new flashpoint towns on Sunday and it was confirmed that four women had been shot dead in the first use of force against an all-female demonstration. A senior western diplomat in Damascus expanded on assertions, first made by White House officials last month, that Iran is advising president Bashar al-Assad's government on how to crush dissent. The diplomat pointed to a "significant" increase in the number of Iranian personnel in Syria since protests began in mid-March. Mass arrests in door-to-door raids, similar to those that helped to crush Iran's "green revolution" in 2009, have been stepped up in the past week.
Al Jazeera has more on those door-to-door raids. The Guardian has a glimpse of the propaganda at work:
Syrian state has underlined the severity of the crackdown and the difficulty of getting news from Syria by broadcasting the "confession" of a man who spoke to the BBC about the protests. … In his confession [Zakaraiya Mitleq] suggested he had made up reports of security forces firing on protesters.
I was on air in a minute and told the presenter that there were demonstrations in Homs and the security forces were firing at them killing about 20 of them in Baba Amrou area. I told her so although the area is 70 km away from my house and I didn't get out of my house that day.
The Dish 