Al Alam's bureau chief in Syria Hossein Morteza was warmly received by Syrian citizens in the strategic border city which lies across from Lebanon.

Iran’s Arabic news channel has been lauded in Syria for its extensive coverage of the situation on the ground. This is while many regional Arab TVs have covered Syria’s developments mainly from the perspective of insurgents fighting in the country.  

Syrian troops established control over the key city of al-Qusayr on Wednesday following weeks of heavy clashes with militants. Qusayr, which lies 10km from the Lebanese border, was a major supply route for militants fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian Army is now in control of most of the towns and villages near the border with Lebanon.

Syria has been gripped by a deadly unrest since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of government forces, have been killed in the violence.

Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.