While artillery and planes were bombarding rebel held areas in Syria’s second city, Aleppo, a very senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Saeed Jalili, held meetings with President Assad, reassuring him of Iran’s on-going support. Mr Jalili also wants to discuss how to secure the release of 48 Iranian nationals, some of them retired members of the Revolutionary Guards, who were abducted by rebels on Saturday August 4th. Meanwhile an official visit by Iran’s foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, to Ankara has been over-shadowed by harsh comments from one of Iran’s senior military men, Gen. Hasan Firouzabadi accusing Turkey of ‘warmongering’ in Syria, along with the US and Saudi Arabia. The comments have enraged the government in Turkey. Things are very tense. Especially because there are now Iranian hostages involved. If anything happens to them, Tehran will want to react. There needs to be a decisive end to the crisis in Syria, not just for the millions of innocents in that country, including thousands of Christians, but also because of the danger of a wider war breaking out. Iran would certainly be involved, and Russia, China, and the USA would not be indifferent onlookers. It’s a dangerous situation. Prayer can change things. Pray for •All officials involved in Syrian crisis •Release of Iran’s hostages •Just government in Damascus