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HomeNEWSIRAN NEWSKhamenei Is Sending Its Zealots To Fight In Syria

Khamenei Is Sending Its Zealots To Fight In Syria

A media group close to the Iranian government, Mehr News Agency, reported Tuesday at least 30 members of Iran’s Basij Resistance Force have been killed fighting in Syria and Iraq. Iran’s military influence in both countries is significant, with around 212 killed in both countries, according to a report by Al-Jazeera. Analysts conservatively estimate there are around 7,000 Iranian forces operating in Iraq and Syria.
Maj. Gen. Rahim Nowi-Agdam, the commander of the Basij, issued a call for volunteers in June, 2015.
“The Supreme Leader does not want to send armies to Iraq and Syria at the moment, but he confirms that military commanders [have been] sent so that their capabilities may be put to use in those two countries,” said Nowi-Agdam.
Traditionally, the Basij has been utilized as a domestic militia force, though it does have a history of being called up for cross-border conflicts.

As the war with Iraq raged on throughout the 1980s, the Basij increased its ranks by recruiting ideologically-driven child soldiers. Commanders would use the children to clear minefields and attack reinforced positions. Before being sent into battle, the Supreme Leader himself reportedly gave the children plastic keys to be worn around their necks, a symbol that their martyrdom guaranteed their entrance to paradise.
The Basij has become increasingly involved in Iranian domestic security and politics in recent years, and is largely responsible for crushing the 2009 demonstrations.
Any doubts of the force’s operations in Syria and Iraq were quelled when it was discovered that Basij Gen. Jabar Drisawi was killed in October by Syrian rebel forces. A second report in February confirmed IRGC Brig. Gen. Hossein Hamedani and six known Basij members were killed fighting in Syria.
Iranian officials have touted their intervention in Syria as a great success, claiming the IRGC and Basij are responsible for ensuring Bashar Assad’s hold over the country.
“All big powers were there in Syria. Iran was there too, determined to keep Bashar [al-] Assad in power. In the end, they failed to affect regime change,” said IRGC Lt. Gen. Hossein Salami during a February meeting of Basij forces in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

 

Source: Daily Caller, April 8

 

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