Panetta: Iran forming pro-regime militia in Syria

Iran is working to form a pro-regime militia in Syria, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday, warning that Tehran's growing presence could only aggravate the situation on the ground. "It is obvious that Iran has been playing a larger role in Syria in many ways," Panetta said at a joint press conference with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey. "There's now an indication that they're trying to develop, trying to train a militia within Syria to be able to fight on behalf of the regime," Panetta said. "So we are seeing a growing presence by Iran and that is of deep concern to us. We do not think that Iran ought to play that role at this moment in time, that's dangerous... it's adding to the killing that's going on in Syria." Panetta also called on Tehran to stay out of the conflict, saying: "Our hope is that Iran thinks better about how much they do want to get involved." "The Syrian people ought to determine their future, not Iran," he added. Dempsey said that most of the members of the apparent pro-regime militia were Shiite, comparing the force to the Mahdi Army of anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Iraq. Syria has a Sunni majority but is led by an Alawite minority, a branch of Shiite Islam.