London- Iran’s Director of Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Cleric Mohammad Ali Shahidi announced that 400 of those recently killed in Syria, both Iranian and Afghan, were added to the foundation’s list under an official request applied by the Revolutionary Guard’s special operations unit, the Quds Force.
Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs is an Iranian governmental entity that receives its funding directly from the national budget. The Foundation gives home loans to disabled veterans and the families of the martyrs.
Iranian public, enraged with the ever increasing numbers of reported deaths in Syria, especially after the Aleppo clashes erupted, launched a wide campaign to express their contempt. Iranians on Friday launched a twitter campaign on social media under “#4Syrian” denouncing Iranian military intervention in Syria and to support the civilians affected by it.
The campaign revealed the mass popular opposition going against Tehran’s regional policies, namely deploying Revolutionary Guard and national army soldiers to interfere in the Syria crisis.
Iran’s state’s news agency, IRNA cited Shahidi saying that the foundation will be answering to the Quds Force requests as soon as the application is received. He added that the Iranian foundation is waiting an extended list presented by the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force which includes added names of members who were killed in Syria.
Shahidi gave no details whether the expected list strictly addresses Quds Force Iranian ‘martyrs’ or it also covers foreign fighters fighting along its side.
Cleric Shahidi also noted that the foundation has enrolled 200 Fatemiyoun Brigade militiamen to the list of those recently killed in Syria.
Fighting alongside Quds Force combatants in Syria are many paramilitary factions such as Iran’s Basij forces, Iranian official Revolutionary Guard teams, the Afghani Iran-trained Fatemiyoun Brigade and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militias.
The Quds Force is a special forces unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responsible for their extraterritorial operations. The Quds Force reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei and is commanded by the notorious Major General Qasem Soleimani.
Fearing public rage on interfering in Syria affairs, Iran is still reserved concerning the announcement of soldier death toll killed in Syria. As officials refuse to provide information on exact death toll, media outlets estimate deaths according to the number of funerals held.