13 Iranians Killed in Recent Clashes in Syria

Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported on Wednesday, February 3, that at least 13 Iranians, most of whom were members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including a commander, were killed in recent clashes in Syria. Fars identified six of the deceased as Rahman Pai, Iman Azarbouyeh, Reza Adeli, Mohsen Koulabadi, Ahmad Elyasi, and Ahmad Amjadi. Tasnim also identified six others as Habib Rahimi-Manesh, Mahmoud Eskandari, Mostafa Khalili, Hassan Rezaghi, Saeed Alizadeh, and Hamed Koochakzadeh. It appears that these 13 individuals were killed during the breaking of a long-standing siege of two Shiite-populated villages in northern Aleppo province, Syria. Syrian state television and Hezbollah announced on Wednesday that the siege of the villages of 'Nubl' and 'Zahra' had been lifted. Iranian news agencies reported that these two towns have a population of over 60,000 Shiites. Meanwhile, the AhlulBayt News Agency reported, citing an 'informed source,' that another IRGC commander was killed in Syria. According to this report, Brigadier General Mohsen Qajarayan, commander of the 21st Armored Brigade of Imam Reza in Nishabour, died while on an 'advisory mission' in Aleppo province, Syria. Since the onset of internal conflicts in Syria, dozens of IRGC members have been killed in the country. Hossein Hamadani, a former commander of the Mohammad Rasoulallah Corps in Tehran, is the highest-ranking IRGC member killed in Syria. The Islamic Republic refers to these individuals as 'Defenders of the Shrine,' claiming they were killed by 'Takfiri terrorists.' Iran states that the survival of Bashar al-Assad in power is Tehran's red line in Syria. Over the past five years of the Syrian civil war, more than 250,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced. Many volunteer military personnel for the Syrian civil war are registered in the Greater Tehran IRGC. Afghans and Pakistanis residing in Iran are also organized into two brigades, 'Fatimiyoun' and 'Zainabiyoun,' and sent to fight in Syria. After the IRGC and Basij forces, Afghan members of the 'Fatimiyoun' brigade have the highest casualty rates in this war, with many of their bodies buried in various cities across Iran.