Iran Denies Sending Military Forces to Syria

One day after opposition forces captured an important base, the Iranian Foreign Ministry officially denied sending military forces to Syria on Wednesday, stating that "Iran's assistance to Syria is limited to humanitarian aid." According to the state news agency IRNA, Marzieh Afkham, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference that "the topic of Iranian military intervention is a diversionary tactic aimed at complicating the political resolution of the Syrian issue." Additionally, according to a report from France Press on Wednesday, June 20, Ms. Afkham reiterated that "reports of military presence of Syria's allies in the country are baseless." She stated that the Syrian government and people have the capacity to resist. Over the past four years since the start of the Syrian civil war, Iran, as a staunch supporter of Bashar al-Assad's government, has consistently denied sending military forces to Syria. However, France Press reported that on June 13, a Syrian security official told the agency that thousands of Iranian military forces and Iraqi armed individuals had entered Syria to defend Damascus and its surrounding areas. According to him, in recent weeks, seven thousand Iranian and Iraqi forces have entered Syria, with their main priority being the protection of the capital. This security source, who requested anonymity, stated that the goal of sending fresh troops to Damascus is to form a military group of ten thousand people to protect the city of Damascus and its surroundings alongside the Syrian army and pro-Assad armed forces. The news of the deployment of Iranian military forces to Syria and its denial comes as reports of the retreat of Assad's forces have emerged again this week. According to France Press, Syrian opposition militants captured the strategic military base of the 52nd Brigade near the city of Daraa on the Jordanian border on Tuesday, June 19. Simultaneously, the opposition announced that they had made advances in the Idlib province in the north of the country and had approached Latakia. Meanwhile, last week, the state news agency IRNA cited a report from "Panorama Al-Sharq Al-Awsat" quoting Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, stating that "in the coming days, the world will be surprised by what we are preparing in cooperation with Syrian military commanders." The denial of troop deployment to Syria comes at a time when Iranian news agencies have repeatedly reported the transfer of "Iranian and Afghan martyrs involved in the battle in Syria back to the country and their burial in Qom and other cities in Iran." Nevertheless, Iran has always officially confirmed financial and military advisory assistance to the Syrian government. In this context, Zarif stated: Iran's policy in supporting the Syrian government is unchangeable. G7 officials consider reaching an agreement on Syria to be "likely." Iran has spent "6 to 15 billion dollars annually" supporting Assad's government.