PHOTO: The deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, General Hossein Salami


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Dismissing claims that it is withdrawing commanders and troops from the conflict in Syria, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has said that there has been “no decrease” in its presence.

The deputy commander of the Guards, General Hossein Salami, told the IRGC outlet Fars News on Tuesday:

The issue of a decrease or increase in forces is a fleeting issue and does not have a relationship to our defense strategy; in addition there has not been a decrease.

Our strategy in this regard and our roles in the battlefield and in the political field have not decreased in any way. We are relying firmly on our previous lines, principles, goals, and strategy. We play our role according to the needs of the situation.

Since 2012, the IRGC has been assisting the Syrian military with command, logistical, and intelligence support, including the formation of the National Defense Forces militia.

This autumn, the Guards stepped up their intervention alongside the start of Russian airstrikes, as the regime launched six ground offensive, five of them against Syrian rebels. Iranian commanders, troops, and Iranian-led Iraqi, Pakistani, and Afghan militia have been particularly significant on the front south of Aleppo city, the most successful for the regime.

However, unnamed US officials began spreading the story two weeks ago that they were “seeing significant numbers of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps troops retreat from the Syrian combat zone”, following heavy casualties.

Iranian media have confirmed at least 105 deaths since October 7. Eight of the dead are commanders, including the overall commander in Syria, General Hossein Hamedani, who has since been replaced. The fate of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the elite Qods Force of the IRGC, is unclear after he was said to have been injured near Aleppo in mid-November.

The US officials provided no evidence for their claim. Local sources note that more Iranian-led militia have been in action this month, including on the front south of Aleppo — a claim supported by latest reports of Iraqi and Pakistani casualties as well as the continuing toll among Iranian troops.

Iranian officials insist that Tehran is only providing “advisors” and no troops to the frontlines. But General Salami pointed to a continued high-profile role for the IRGC in his Tuesday interview:

The role and responsibility of the IRGC for defending the Islamic Revolution is greater than just military defense. We see the Islamic Revolution as an expansive front both in respect to geography and also in the type of conflict.


Head of Judiciary Attacks Rafsanjani’s “Secretive Movement”

The head of judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, has again attacked former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, accusing him of running a “secretive movement” to undermine the Supreme Leader.

The latest row between Rafsanjani and his critics has been sparked by the former President’s statements last week that the Assembly of Experts should exercise greater supervision over the Supreme Leader, and that a council should replace the Leader after Ayatollah Khamenei’s death.

See Iran Daily, Dec 22: Rouhani Tries to Ease In-Fighting Over Rafsanjani and Supreme Leader
Iran Daily, Dec 19: Head of Armed Forces Attacks Former President Rafsanjani

Larijani initially responded with criticism of the “baseless statements”. He followed this on Tuesday with denunciation of “incorrect and erroneous” talk and the accusation that Rafsanjani and allies were trying to “encourage those who think like them to enter the Assembly of Experts”.

Elections for the 86-member Assembly are being held next February. Rafsanjani is hoping to regain the chair, which he held from 2007 to 2011.


Why Did State TV Cancel Interview with Foreign Minister at Last Minute?

Iran’s State television network, IRIB, has cancelled a holiday interview with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the last minute, fuelling anger and speculation about political motives.

Zarif was to appear with the popular host Adel Ferdosipour on Shab-e Yalda, the Iranian holiday for the Winter Solstice. Publicity photographs for the prerecorded chat were circulated, but Ferdosipour announced the cancellation on Tuesday, “Officials from IRIB did not see it fit to air the interview tonight.”

While some observers speculated that Zarif’s interview would appear to favor the Rouhani Government, Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, a leading conservative and member of the Supreme Leader’s inner circle, appeared on IRIB last night.

The incident comes amid an escalation in regime in-fighting ahead of February’s elections for Parliament and the Assembly of Experts, the body which chooses the Supreme Leader.

Iran Daily, Dec 22: Rouhani Tries to Ease In-Fighting Over Rafsanjani and Supreme Leader

IRIB’s public relations department said that the channel had never formally requested the interview with Zarif and that it was done by the show’s producers without the broadcaster’s knowledge.

Zarif wrote Ferdosipour after the announcement of the cancellation, “I heard they brought on pressure. Do not be worried at all on my behalf, not airing the interviewing is not important for me. Do not get entangled unnecessarily.”

The Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Hossein Jaber Ansari, was harsher in his reaction, calling the IRIB decision “irresponsible” and saying the channel should answer to the public over its behavior.