Moving Iraqi militias into Syria would be Iran’s way of both preventing spillover and adding fuel to the fire.

Hundreds of fighters from Iran-backed Iraqi militias crossed into Syria overnight to help the government fight rebels who seized Aleppo last week, Syrian and Iraqi sources said on Monday, and Tehran pledged to aid the Damascus government.

Hundreds of fighters from Iran -backed Iraqi militias have crossed into Syria to help the regime of Bashar al-Assad fight off an insurgency across much of the northwest of the country, which has seen the seizure of the second city of Aleppo.