PHOTO: Deputy Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier General Hossein Salami

Describing Iran’s military intervention to keep Syria’s President Assad in power, the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards has outlined a “four-level” role.

Brigadier General Hossein Salami set out the strategy in an interview on Monday, as he praised Russia’s bombing campaign and claimed that the Assad regime is in “a state of recovery”.

Salami’s “first level” reached back to 2012, when Iran began its essential military involvement with the creation of the National Defense Forces militia to support the Syrian military: “At this level we support the Syrian people and transfer our experiences to the Syrian army. In this level, we are helping them modernize and restructure the Syrian military. The Syrian military is need of supplementary defense, which are the popular mobilization forces.”

He then referred to the “advisory” role of Iran’s commanders in the past four years: “The next level is seen as operational assistance, namely the support given to the Syrian commanders in handling the war against the terrorists at the medium stages.”

Salami continued, “[The third level of support] is tactical…and the fourth level is technical and logistical support in preparation of weapons and maintenance….[These] actions are based on requests and understanding that we formally have with the Syrian government.”

As the Syrian military and Russia’s aerial campaign have pursued a six-front offensive this month, Iran has put in more commanders and troops, as well as Iranian-backed Iraqi militia. On Monday, Salami referred to “a command center…formed for operational control of the Syrian army and Russian air force.”.

Tehran has already paid a cost for the escalation, with five commanders — including the overall commander in Syria, General Hossein Hamedani — and about 20 troops killed since October 8.

Salami admitted, “The number of our martyrs is not huge, but it appears to be more than before.” But he maintained, “We will guarantee the political, psychological, economic, and military stability of the Syrian regime that is fighting in the front line against America and Israel.”

He declared, “Syria is the point of confrontation between the Front of Dominance and the Islamic Revolution. What we are witnessing today is not a fight between great powers within the Syrian system, but a conflict between the two fronts of Arrogance [the West] and Resistance.”

(Hat tip to Iran Tracker for translation)