Iran's billions of dollars of support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime is causing friction among the top of the regime in Tehran.

Quoting Western intelligence reports, the Times reported in its online edition that Iran has been paying the wages of Syrian government forces for months and provided weapons to the Assad regime.

The British daily explained that a split has formed between Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran's spymaster, Qassem Suleimani, as the clash between antigovernment rebels and government forces in Syria remains in a deadlock after 18 months.