AKCAKALE, Turkey – Syrian rebels seized control of a border crossing on the frontier with Turkey on Wednesday, ripping down the Syrian flag as the rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Assad expand their control of the country's north.

Assad, meanwhile, told Iran's visiting foreign minister that the fight against his government "targets resistance as a whole, not only Syria," an apparent reference to countries and groups opposed to Israel's existence. The "axis of resistance" includes Syria and Iran, along with the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the Palestinian militant Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Iranian visitor, Ali Akbar Salehi, arrived in Syria after a visit to Cairo as part of an Egyptian-sponsored Syria peace initiative grouping Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – all supporters of the rebels – with Iran.