They had been operating as part of Islamic Republic’s advisory help to the fighter-warriors of the resistance in Syria.
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Hamid Mokhtarband and Brigadier General Farshad Hassounizadeh, both commanders with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), were killed during the battle against Daesh Takfiri terrorists in Syria on Monday, Tasnim news agency reported.
The Iranian reporter’s Instagram posts were picked up by Iranian media outlets, including Basij Press, which noted he was one of the first to break the news of IRGC general Hussein Hamdani’s death last week.
The Revolutionary Guards created a militia to prop up a Syrian army running short on manpower after 4 1/2 years of fighting.
The IRGC issued an official announcement claiming Hamedani had been killed by ISIS on the outskirts of the city of Aleppo (northern Syria).
The report said Hasounizadeh had formerly headed an elite unit of the IRGC. Morad Veisi, an expert on Iran’s armed forces who works with Radio Farda in Prague, said more Saberin personnel appear to have been sent to Syria. Two years previously Iranian General Hassan Shateri was killed in Syria; Iran accused Israel of responsibility. “The planning and operations of ambitious campaigns require senior oversight so more risk-taking by Iranian generals”. For example, in May 2014, in an exceptional statement, he said Iran had established a “second Hezbollah” in Syria and that the Basij operated “cultural centers” in 14 Syrian governates.
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Ali Akbar Velayati, a foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said this week that maintaining Assad in power remained as Tehran’s red line.
