The head of the Syrian National Council (SNC), the Syrian opposition group headquartered in Ankara, today scolded US officials for saying it is “premature” to discuss a provisional Syrian government . . . Abdelbaset Sieda retorted that the SNC is preparing to announce a transitional government, but admitted the announcement is not imminent . . . French president Francois Hollande yesterday called on the opposition to form a provisional government and promised that France would quickly recognize its legitimacy . . . meanwhile, a commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard admitted that Tehran is fighting both a “military” and “cultural” war in Syria . . . heavy fighting continues in Damascus . . . the Syrian regime yesterday dropped leaflets from helicopters warning rebels to disarm or face death . . . the Syrian opposition remains divided and disorganized, hampering its ability to win international backing and to counter the forces of President Bashar al-Assad . . . the SNC is a group of intellectual exiles, largely rejected by the Free Syrian Army fighters conducting military operations inside Syria, and is seeing legitimacy slipping further domestically as the military conflict drags on . . . observers have long believed Iran is actively supporting Syrian forces, but this is the first admission from Tehran that it is sending troops to back Assad.