Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said yesterday that the Syrian government is no longer in danger of falling and President Bashar al-Assad would stand for re-election this year.

Mr Nasrallah also told the As-Safir newspaper that the the threat of bombings in Lebanon “has dropped considerably” because of the “measures adopted along the Lebanese-Syrian border.”

He said that after three years of conflict the danger of Syria fragmenting was receding.

Hezbollah fighters have been battling alongside Syrian troops against rebels trying to oust Mr Assad.

Mr Assad has lost control of swathes of northern and eastern Syria to Islamist rebels and foreign jihadis.

But his forces have driven rebels back from Damascus and secured most of central Syria.

Hezbollah fighters were instrumental in helping Syrian forces dislodge opposition fighters from their strongholds along the Lebanese border.

But the Shi’ite group’s role in the civil war has inflamed sectarian tensions.

In the past weeks, Sunni militants have carried out several deadly attacks on Hezbollah strongholds.

But Mr Nasrallah dismissed rebel gains over the last two weeks in the coastal province of Latakia.

“We can’t call what is happening in Latakia a big battle … it’s a limited operation.”

He added that talk of a big rebel offensive in the southern province of Deraa had also been overstated.