EU agrees to lift arms ban on Syrian rebels He said there was no intention to supply arms immediately. "This is a strong signal that it [the Syrian regime] needs to engage in the political process," he said. We would only take the step of sending arms in company with other nations, in carefully controlled circumstances and in compliance with international law. Britain and France's main aim was to pressure President Bashar al-Assad to make concessions at a peace conference proposed for next month in Geneva. The threat is that weapons will be sent if he is felt not to be negotiating in earnest. The two European allies believe the situation in Syria is growing worse daily and that supplying pro-Western rebels with arms would make it less likely that international jihadists would take over the revolution. Mr Hague's determination to lift the embargo was welcomed by the opposition Syrian National Coalition. Gen Selim Idris, the head of the opposition's formal armed wing the Supreme Military Council, circulated a letter to foreign ministers of EU countries, urging them to relax the ban. The coalition is meeting in Istanbul to decide whether to attend the peace conference. Gen Idris accompanied John McCain, the former US presidential candidate, on a visit to rebel-held areas of Syria, Mr McCain's spokesman confirmed yesterday. A group of five EU states, and many British MPs from both side of the House of Commons, fear that arming the rebels will boost jihadists. He told the BBC: "It beggars belief, the idea that pouring more arms into this conflict could not or would not escalate the violence. But it could do something more dangerous - it could escalate the conflict beyond Syria's borders. The shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, also questioned the policy. "How would the Government prevent British-supplied weapons falling into the wrong hands, and how does supplying weapons help to secure a lasting peace?" he said. "We [the EU] just received the Nobel Peace Prize and to go in the direction of intentionally getting involved in a conflict with weapon deliveries is wrong," said Michael Spindelegger, the country's foreign minister. Thousands of his troops are said to have been trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Those troops, recently graduated from secret training camps staffed by 150 Iranian military advisers, are now taking a lead role in attacking the rebels. The Assad regime is also receiving support from the Iranian-controlled Lebanese Hizbollah militia. "Iran's contribution to the conflict could ultimately be a game-changer for the Assad regime," said a senior military official.