BEIRUT: Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are closing in on Druze areas in Syria, Progressive Socialist Party Leader Walid Jumblatt warned Tuesday, reiterating calls for Lebanon to stand neutral in regional conflicts. “Information shows that thousands of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reached the Swaida area in Jabal al-Druze or Jabal al-Arab in Syria,” Jumblatt said via Twitter, hinting that this might have drastic repercussions for the minority community in Syria.

“What worries me the most is the fate of Arab Druze in this region,” the Druze leader tweeted, referring to Swaida.

Jumblatt said the presence of the Iranian military in the area demonstrated a clear connection between the Islamic Republic and Hezbollah, both supporting President Bashar Assad’s regime. “It has become a reality that if not for Iran, the Syrian regime would’ve collapsed a long time ago,” Jumblatt added.

Since the Syrian uprising began in 2011, Jumblatt, a vocal critic of the Syrian regime, has called on Syrian Druze to stay neutral in the war.

In his weekly column for Al-Anbaa electronic newspaper, Jumblatt said that a military solution to the crisis would only prolong the war in Syria.

“Since the beginning we disagreed with some of our partners in the country over how to read and analyze the situation in Syria when it was still a peaceful revolution,” Jumblatt said. “We saw the need to meet the people’s rightful and legitimate demands for change and freedom, but we warned against military options that might destroy Syria.”

Jumblatt explained that the opposing factions at that time had asserted that matters would be settled in a short time. “And here is Syria, being destroyed for five years now.”

Jumblatt is a long-time proponent of non-intervention in the Syrian crisis and has criticized Hezbollah’s fighting alongside the Syrian regime.

“From the start we were against any kind of intervention in Syria by any side and on any level,” he said.

Jumblatt also warned against involving Lebanon in conflicts in Iraq and Yemen, arguing that Lebanon always ends up paying the price for such allegiances.

“We think that wisdom, reason and national duty forces us to look out for Lebanese interests,” Jumblatt said.

Lebanon’s internal unity, security and stability should be promoted because the country’s political reality cannot bear any more division, he said.