AMMAN, Jordan Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States and its Arab and European allies will step up their support for Syria’s opposition to help them “fight for the freedom of their country” if President Bashar Assad’s regime doesn’t engage in peace talks in good faith.

Kerry says if the world can’t find a path toward a negotiated outcome, the result will be more aid to the Syrian rebels.

He spoke ahead of an 11-nation conference in Jordan on Wednesday night.

Kerry and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh both stressed, however, that the goal is to get the Syrian government and opposition into political transition talks.

Diplomats hope they’ll begin next month in Geneva.

Also on Wednesday, Kerry said Iranian fighters and Hezbollah are helping perpetuate Assad’s “campaign of terror” in Syria.

Meanwhile, inside Syria, the main opposition alliance on Wednesday urged fighters from around the country to reinforce a rebel-held town under attack by President Bashar Assad’s troops and their allies from the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group.

With its appeal, the Syrian National Coalition sought to bolster embattled rebel forces in Qusair who for a fourth straight day Wednesday came under fierce assault by government troops. The town, which is near the border with Lebanon, lies at the heart of a government offensive to secure a strategic strip of land running from the capital, Damascus, to the Mediterranean coast and Syria’s seaports.

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