Saturday, November 28, 2015

Iran Admits That Many Of Its Soldiers Are Dying In Syria



Washington Post: Iranian media is revealing that scores of the country’s fighters are dying in Syria

BEIRUT — An increasing number of Iranian soldiers and militiamen appear to be dying in Syria’s civil war, and observers credit media from an unexpected country for revealing the trend:

Iran.

A flurry of reports in Iran’s official and semi­official news outlets about the deaths — including funerals and even a eulogy to a fallen general by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — have surprised analysts who monitor the country’s tightly controlled media. The reports, they say, indicate that at least 67 Iranians have been killed in Syria since the beginning of October.

Just a few months ago, Iranian media said little about the country’s military intervention in ­Syria to shore up the government. But as Iranian fighters participate in a new Russian-led offensive against Syrian rebels, Iran’s leaders might have a reason to offer more details of their country’s involvement, said Ali Alfoneh, an Iran expert at the ­Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

WNU Editor: Iran has a lost a number of commanders in the Syrian conflict .... which in itself is surprising. Someone told me that the reason why so many of these commanders are being killed reflects a problem of getting troops to fight that is forcing commanders being pushed to the front in order to encourage the troops. The above video is a news story on the death of a top Iranian General in Syria last month.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't this the new inexperienced army of mercenaries Iran is hiring with the promise of citizenship to those who survive? No doubt Iran has a readily available supply of refugees to recruit. It would surprise me at all if they are uneager to fight.

Anonymous said...

*would not surprise me.

Anonymous said...

I think there is a lack of understanding the inner workings of the IRGC. They're totally dedicated to Khomeini's "islamic revolution". Personal involvement of commanders with their soldiers on the front and willingness to die is necessary to rise in rank. That's why you can see Soleimani in south Aleppo so close to the front. Someone compared them to the "King's Guard" from the TV-show Games Of Thrones.