JEDDAH: Iran has pulled senior officers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps out of Syria amid a series of Israeli airstrikes that have killed at least six military “advisers” since December.
One attack on Jan. 20 killed five Guards, including a general who ran intelligence for the Quds Force, which is responsible for overseas operations. The strike flattened a building in Damascus.
Another strike outside Damascus on Dec. 25, killed a senior Guards adviser responsible for coordinating between Syria and Iran. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers at his funeral.
A senior regional security official briefed by Tehran said top Iranian commanders had left Syria along with dozens of mid-ranking officers, and described it as a downsizing of the presence.
Another source, a regional official close to Iran, said those still in Syria had left their offices and were staying out of sight. “The Iranians won’t abandon Syria but they reduced their presence and movements to the greatest extent.”
BACKGROUND
One attack on Jan. 20 killed five Guards, including a general who ran intelligence for the Quds Force.
Guards chiefs are thought to have raised concerns with Syrian authorities that information leaks from the Syrian security services had played a part in the lethal Israeli attacks. The precision of the strikes had prompted the Guards to move operational sites and officers’ residences, amid concerns of an intelligence breach.
Iranian assets in Syria and Iraq also face retaliation from the US after three American soldiers were killed in a drone strike last week on a military base in northern Jordan. The US has blamed the attack on Kata’ib Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian militia in Iraq.
US media reported on Thursday that the White House had approved plans for strikes over several days on Iraqi and Syrian targets including “Iranian personnel and facilities.”
