IRGC Commander: We Control both Political and Military Arenas in Syria

London- Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution IRGC’s second-in-command, considered that his country controls both field and political status quo in Syria.

Salami, in a conference attended by three thousand Basij figureheads in Tehran, claimed that his forces now are of pivotal value to field developments in Syria. He regarded that the IRGC’s role and Iran’s presence at several negotiations helped in the redistribution of great power in the world.

IRGC’s second-in-command affirmed that his country now is one of the defining and principal parties that face the P5+1 “six world powers” at negotiations, Fars News Agency, IRGC-affiliated agency reported.

This is considered to be the first time Salami actually approaches the subject on the military presence affecting Iranian foreign policy. His declarations came post Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s statement at the medal-of-achievement ceremony, awarding the nuclear deal negotiating delegation. President Rouhani already said that Iran’s soldiers in Baghdad, Samarra, Fallujah, Tikrit, Ramadi, Aleppo, and Damascus operating with the IRGC and Iranian intelligence have played a decisive role in the nuclear deal negotiations and what they arrived to.

The presence of world power countries in Syria did not weaken the Iranian role in supporting Assad’s regime, and Iran’s participation in Syria has prevented a P5+1 paved new way to take course in Syria, Salami said.

Salami also considered that the Palestinian jihadist groups, the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq and Syria, and Houthis movement (Ansar Allah) are the strategic depth of Iran into the region. That perspective is derived from the support those groups are receiving from the IRGC. Salami also referred to the vast frontiers they are holding against what he called enemies.

Mohammad Ali Jafari, IRGC commander, on Feb.10, at a funeral service of an IRGC member, made a statement on the IRGC fighters being killed in Syria and Iraq, and how it affects Iran’s homeland security.

The IRGC fighting in Iraq and Syria has kept risk away from Iran, and all those who died for that cause, are dubbed ground defenders after that they have guaranteed Iranian security and stability, Tasnim News Agency quoted Jafari.

Jafari has also linked his troops fighting in Syria with the establishment of Mahdi’s government “prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine, or nineteen years (according to differing interpretations) before the Day of Judgment”. He also regards that the persistence of the Islamic Iranian revolution needs elements that aid the continuity of the Iranian revolution itself.

Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Abbass Ka’abi, in an exclusive statement made to Farda News’ website, said that 17 religious figures have died so far since the IRGC’s intervention in Syria. To Ka’abi, their death is a source of pride for Iranian ḥawza ʻilmiyya (seminary where Shi’a Muslim clerics are trained), Iranian religious institution, and Mahdi. Furthermore, he considers their fighting in Syria an answer to the call of duty, accepting one’s responsibility, and a mandate for martyrdom.

Iranian death toll hit over 40 for this week, including leading brigadiers and colonels. Ka’abi, however, repeated what other IRGC leaders are saying on the advisory role they are playing in Syria. He considered the dead clerics among the IRGC forces in Syria, Iranian revolution moral missionaries.

Ka’abi clarified that clerics being present with the IRGC forces raise troops’ moral; they have inspired soldiers to fight against the Syrian Opposition. This is also accounted to be the first time Iranian statistics on IRGC deaths surface. Ka’abi pointed out clerics heading to Syria only after fulfilling legal terms and according to region’s conditions.