Iran has started to evacuate military commanders from Syria, in a sign that the regime is losing faith in Bashar al-Assad’s ability to hold back a rebel uprising.

Tehran has sent commanders and staff back to neighbouring Lebanon and Iraq, the New York Times reported, citing three Iranian officials and “regional officials.”

The surprise rebel offensive is advancing so quickly that its troops were, as of Saturday, within 12 miles (20km) of the southern gate of Damascus, Hassan Abdul Ghany, the rebel commander, said.

Senior commanders in Iran’s Quds force, the elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC], were among those evacuated from Syria in the face of rebel advances, along with diplomatic staff and their families.

The evacuations, both by air and across land borders, were ordered from the Iranian embassy in Damascus and several Revolutionary Guard bases in Syria.