A Look At The Critical Role That Iran Is Playing In The Syrian War

Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Reuters

Kristen Daily, Foreign Policy: Iran Has More Volunteers for the Syrian War Than It Knows What to Do With

As Syrian troops sustain heavy losses, Iranian militias are ramping up their role.

TEHRAN — When 59-year-old Asghar Abyari learned that his son Abbas would soon head off to war in Syria in late December 2015, he was furious. But not for the reason one might expect.

Since November, Asghar and Abbas, 24, both members of Iran’s voluntary Basij militia, had been undergoing military training in hopes of joining Tehran’s advisory mission to support Syria. The mission began deploying in 2012 to advise Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in their fight against the growing insurgency. By the time the Abyari men began training in 2015, Syria’s horrific civil war had stretched into its fifth year, forcing Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani to expand the mission to include volunteers from all six branches of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including the Basij. Suleimani still maintained command of the mission, but now officers from each branch were assembling units composed of assorted IRGC volunteers to serve under his command.

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WNU editor: Not all Iranian "volunteers" are getting killed .... Lawmaker Says Up To Six Iranian Personnel Captured In Syria (RFE).