Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Withdraw Officers from Syria Following Alleged Israeli Airstrikes (Update)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is reducing the numbers of its senior officers in Syria following deadly Israeli strikes, several Iranian sources said Thursday.
The IRGC will reportedly rely more on allied Shiite militia to preserve their presence in the country, where Tehran supports groups attacking Israel.
The Guards have suffered one of their most bruising spells in Syria since arriving a decade ago to aid President Bashar Al-Assad in the Syrian war.
Since December, Israeli strikes have killed more than half a dozen of their members, among them one of the Guards’ top intelligence Generals, several sources said.
Those attacks included the killing of four of its advisers last month in an Israeli attack on the Syrian capital, Damascus, the IRGC added.
In a statement, the IRGC claimed that “in addition to the killing of four military advisors serving in Syria, there were also deaths among Syrian forces” in the Israeli attack.
A large crowd attended last month’s funeral ceremony in Tehran, which was held for the IGRC members, according to footage seen by Worthy News.
Those killed were Brigadier General Sadiq Omidzade, Deputy Intelligence Commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC, and Revolutionary Guards members Hossein Mohammadi and Mohammad Amin Samedi.
As hardliners in Tehran demand retaliation, Iran’s decision to pull out senior officers is driven partly by its aversion to being directly involved in the conflict spreading across the Middle East, according to well-informed sources.
Iran has been supporting and training several outside groups, or ‘proxies,’ to fight against Israel, including well-known groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, and militias in Syria and elsewhere.
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