Another Senior Member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Killed in Syria

Reports indicate that Shahrokh Daiypour, one of the commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed during clashes in the city of Albu Kamal, Syria. Fars News Agency states that "General Shahrokh Daiypour, one of the Iranian commanders present in Syria," was killed on Friday, July 1, during a confrontation with forces of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Albu Kamal. The news agency refers to Shahrokh Daiypour with titles such as: "TOW missile and anti-tank instructor and commander of the anti-tank unit and equipment of the Najaf headquarters" during the Iran-Iraq War, "anti-tank instructor for Hezbollah in Lebanon in previous years, international diving instructor, and also anti-tank advisory and battlefield command in Syria." Albu Kamal is located on the banks of the Euphrates River, 440 kilometers east of Damascus. Forces allied with Bashar al-Assad's government managed to retake this area from ISIS last year. However, recently, ISIS forces have captured parts of this city. Shahrokh Daiypour was among the forces dispatched from Kermanshah province to Syria. The Abna news agency also reports that he is the fifteenth "Defender of the Shrine" from Kermanshah province to be killed in clashes with opposition forces against Bashar al-Assad's government. "Defender of the Shrine" is the title chosen by the Islamic Republic of Iran for its military presence in Syria. The Islamic Republic has sent its military forces to Syria and Iraq under the guise of "Defenders of the Shrine" to fight against Bashar al-Assad's opponents and the "Islamic State" or ISIS, and has also dispatched a number of Afghan and Pakistani Shia fighters in the form of the "Fatemiyoun Brigade" and "Zainabiyoun Brigade" to Syria. In this context, Mohammad Ali Shahidi, head of the Martyrs Foundation, announced in March 2017 that the number of those killed known as "Defenders of the Shrine" at that time was 2,100. In recent years, several senior IRGC commanders, including Ahmad Gholami, Hossein Hamadani, Hamid Taghavi, Shafie Shafiei, Reza Farzaneh, Daryush Dorosti, Ismail Heydari, Hadi Kajbaf, Shaban Nasiri, Zaker Heydari, and Abdollah Eskandari have also been killed in Syria. It is reported that 15 groups of Shia militias supported by Iran are engaged in fighting in Syria and Iraq. The IRGC has repeatedly stated that the presence of its commanders in Syria and Iraq is "advisory" and that the Islamic Republic has sent forces to these countries at the request of Bashar al-Assad and the Iraqi government. The Israeli Prime Minister has previously accused the Iranian government of actions in Syria and the region that ignite a "religious war" in the area. The Syrian civil war has so far left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced.