(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary, Saeed Jalili, on Tuesday (August 7), as rebels said they held a group of Iranian hostages.<br/> <br />Damascus' state-run television showed footage of the meeting but gave no further details.<br/> <br />Iran's IRIB said Jalili was also scheduled to meet Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous, and planned to hold a press conference at Iran's embassy in Damascus on Tuesday.<br/> <br />Jalili acts as the representative of Iran's ultimate authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and is also Iran's chief negotiator in Tehran's dispute with Western powers over its nuclear programme.<br/> <br />Iran has expressed worry about the fate of more than 40 Iranians it says are religious pilgrims kidnapped by rebels off a bus in Damascus while visiting Shi'ite shrines.<br/> <br />The rebels say they suspect the captives were troops sent to help Assad.
