Death of a Retired IRGC Commander After 11 Days in Coma in Aleppo

According to reports from Iran, Ahmad Gholami, one of the founders of the '10th Brigade of Sayyid al-Shuhada' of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has passed away after 11 days in a coma in Aleppo. The Basij News Agency reported on September 21 that this IRGC commander was injured by shrapnel to the head on September 9 in Aleppo and went into a coma. The news agency stated that before his death, Ahmad Gholami was 'breathing with the help of a machine in a hospital in Aleppo for several days due to this condition.' The Basij News Agency referred to Gholami as a 'skilled military advisor' who had been dispatched to Syria. The confirmed news of the commander’s death was validated by Brigadier General Ali Nasiri, the commander of the 'Sayyid al-Shuhada' IRGC in Tehran Province. Ahmad Gholami was responsible for training a portion of the forces supporting Bashar al-Assad in Syria. He is mentioned as one of the founders of the 110th Brigade 'Khatam al-Anbiya' and had also commanded this brigade for a time. His last responsibility was as the Deputy of Operations of the IRGC Ground Forces, from which he retired in the same position. Ahmad Gholami is among the senior IRGC commanders who have been killed in recent years in the Syrian conflict, following figures such as Hossein Hamadani, Shafi Shafiei, Reza Farzaneh, Daryush Dorosti, Ismail Heydari, Hadi Kajbaf, and Abdullah Eskandari. The IRGC has repeatedly stated that the presence of its commanders in Syria is 'advisory' and that the Islamic Republic has sent forces to this country at the request of Bashar al-Assad. Since the deployment of Iranian military forces in Syria, several members of the IRGC and Basij have been killed, but no precise statistics on their numbers have been published so far. Some Afghans and Pakistanis are also organized by Iran under the 'Fatemiyoun' and 'Zainabiyoun' brigades and sent to fight in Syria; in recent years, the bodies of dozens of them have been buried in Iran. Iran, alongside Russia, is considered one of the main supporters of Bashar al-Assad. In this context, the casualties of Iranian forces dispatched to Syria have increased. NATO has stated that Iran's recruitment of Afghans has disrupted the army's balance, with at least 15 Afghans and Pakistanis reported dead in Syria. An IRGC commander has mentioned the formation of a Shiite Liberation Army led by Soleimani. The 'People's Defense Units' accuse the IRGC of being involved in the conflict in Kobani. The changing battlefield of 'proxy forces' reflects the war against the people in the streets of Iran. The first paragraph discusses the responsibility of the opposition and the potential radicalization of Iranian society. The death of the last Mossad representative in Tehran comes amid the Iran crisis.