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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet in Turkey Saturday with senior Turkish officials and Syrian opposition figures, amid signs of deepening international involvement in the Syrian conflict.

With events accelerating in Syria 鈥� from high-profile defections from the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to rebel progress in taking and holding territory 鈥� Secretary Clinton says her meetings in Turkey will focus on 鈥渢he day after鈥� Assad鈥檚 fall and how to help a post-Assad Syria avoid sectarian warfare, reprisal killings, and a rise in extremism.

Yet while Clinton says her discussions will focus on 鈥渨hat happens next,鈥� the reality is that her interlocutors 鈥� both the Turks and the Syrian opposition 鈥� want to talk about what is happening now: a raging civil war that analysts say is taking an average of 200 lives a day and showing worrisome signs of engulfing the neighborhood.

鈥淎s the situation in Syria heats up, so does the region,鈥� say Robert Danin, a senior fellow in Middle Eastern affairs at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in Washington. Iran, he says, is just one country that has considerable stakes in Syria and will want to remain a player there.

Turkey does not want to get dragged into the Syrian conflict, but it is already dealing with thousands of refugees fleeing across its border and is concerned about the destabilizing aspects of a prolonged conflict next door.

Syria鈥檚 rebels have opened up a corridor from the embattled city of Aleppo to the Turkish border. But they say they need more and heavier arms to make further progress, and are pressing the United States to provide such weapons as anti-aircraft missiles for what some say could still be a long fight ahead.

The US currently is providing communications equipment, and some special operations forces are reported to be on the ground in Turkey 鈥� primarily to provide intelligence on Al Qaeda鈥檚 role in the anti-Assad rebellion and presumably to offer some assistance to the rebels. But so far the Obama administration has stopped short of a more robust intervention.

Clinton鈥檚 added stop in Turkey at the end of a 10-day swing through sub-Saharan Africa underscores the administration鈥檚 growing concerns in the face of evidence of growing involvement by outside players that the US would like to keep out of a post-Assad Syria.

On Thursday the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, described Iran鈥檚 role in Syria as 鈥渘efarious鈥� for how it and its proxy, Hezbollah, are providing assistance to a regime that is massacring its own people.

The Obama administration on Friday designated Hezbollah for Treasury Department action for its material support to the Assad regime. 鈥淗ezbollah鈥檚 extensive support to the Syrian government鈥檚 violent suppression of the Syrian people exposes the true nature of this terrorist organization and its destabilizing presence in the region,鈥� said David Cohen, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a statement.聽

Also Friday, the Treasury Department designated 29 Syrian government officials and five Syrian companies for their role in the regime鈥檚 repressive actions and for developing non-conventional weapons.聽 聽聽

The US has listed Hezbollah as a terrorist organization since 1995, but Friday鈥檚 order targets the Lebanon-based group specifically for its operations in Syria. Hezbollah is coordinating its support for Assad with Iran鈥檚 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force, the Treasury Department said in its statement.

Iran displayed its deep interest in Syria this week by holding an international conference on the Syrian conflict that attracted diplomats from Russia, China, and other countries that have opposed United Nations Security Council intervention in the conflict.

Earlier in the week Iran鈥檚 supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, dispatched his chief national security adviser to Damascus to underscore Tehran鈥檚 support for Assad. Iran鈥檚 national security adviser, Saeed Jalili, told Assad that Iran supports Syria as an 鈥渆ssential part鈥� of an 鈥渁xis of resistance鈥� that Tehran would not allow 鈥渢o be broken in any way.鈥�

The CFR鈥檚 Mr. Danin says Iran鈥檚 outspoken commitment to Assad is worrisome because Iran has already demonstrated that it is 鈥渨illing to take risks in the use of force鈥� to further its aims. But he and other experts say Iran is far from the only challenge the US faces in a transitioning Syria, and they say the growing presence of Islamist extremists in Syria is of particular concern.

鈥淪yria is becoming a magnet for jihadis globally,鈥� says Ed Husain, who is also a senior fellow at CFR in Washington. 鈥淚n our enthusiasm to see the fall of the Assad regime, we鈥檙e at risk of encouraging the rise of jihadi elements,鈥� he says.

That 鈥渞isk鈥� is just one of the factors explaining Clinton鈥檚 focus on 鈥渨hat comes next鈥� in Syria, Danin says. 鈥淲e have to be concerned about what happens afterwards,鈥� he says, adding that the 鈥渁fter鈥� will nevertheless be determined in large part by how Syria gets to a post-Assad period.

鈥淭he way Assad is brought down,鈥� he says, 鈥渨ill shape the way the country evolves afterwards.鈥澛�