This weekend saw yet another uptick of Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) fatalities in Syria.
In spite of claims by Iran that it is only sending military advisors into Syria at this time, the country’s state-backed media reported Saturday that “IRGC forces were killed in battle against the Tafriki terrorists”. Within the past week, around twelve IRGC deaths in Syria have been reported.
Brigadier-General Ramazan Sharif stated on Sunday that the most recent IRGC personnel that have been killed were in Syria in order to defend the Holy Shrines in the country. He said that the sudden increase in military advisors was in response to a request from the Syrian government.
Sharif said that the ultimate decision to comply with requests from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government was a result of recent developments in different parts of the country, along with the victories of resistance groups against terrorists.
As IRGC presence and death toll in Syria rises, Iran continues to solidify its alliance with Assad and Putin, raising interesting questions about what impact these growing relationships will ultimately have on the already bloody conflict.