The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Sunday members of his elite special operations unit, the Quds Force, “are present in Lebanon and Syria but only to provide counsel.”

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Sunday members of his elite special operations unit, the Quds Force, “are present in Lebanon and Syria but only to provide counsel.”

"A number of Quds Force members are present in Lebanon and Syria... we provide (these countries) with counsel and advice, and transfer experience to them," Guards commander Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jaafari told a press conference.

"But it does not mean that we have a military presence there," he said.

Several Western and Arab countries accuse Iran of giving military aid to the President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Iran is "proud of defending Syria, a member of the (anti-Zionism) resistance," Jafari said, "by providing them with experience while other countries are not shy of supporting terrorist groups," he added using Iran's official term for the Syrian opposition.

Iran accuses Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar of arming the rebels in Syria, in collusion with the United States and the Zionist entity, to overthrow Assad's regime.