Mohsen Rezaei: Hamdani Participated in 80 Operations in Syria Since 2011

The former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, Mohsen Rezaei, stated that Hossein Hamdani, a senior IRGC commander who was killed on Thursday night in Aleppo, Syria, had participated in "80 operations" in the country. According to Fars News Agency, Rezaei mentioned on Sunday, October 19, during Hamdani's funeral that he had been in Syria since 2011 and had established two "military headquarters" in Damascus and Aleppo. Rezaei also noted that Hamdani formed a "National Defense" organization in Syria similar to Hezbollah in Lebanon, organizing "tens of thousands of young Syrians" within this framework. Hamdani, who was considered a senior commander of the IRGC in Syria, was killed on Thursday night in Aleppo. He was the commander of the "Mohammad Rasulullah" IRGC unit in Tehran during the crackdown on protests in 2009. Hamdani's funeral was held on Sunday morning with the presence of IRGC commanders and some government officials in Tehran. Rezaei emphasized that "today, Iran's security cannot be ensured solely within its borders and is intertwined with regional security." He added that "General Hamdani was martyred in Syria to prevent insecurity from reaching Tehran. Therefore, some should not question why he was martyred in Syria." The former military commander stressed that "if Saudi Arabia and Takfiris prevail in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, they will push the Islamic world back 15 centuries." Additionally, according to ISNA, Rezaei stated that Iran's security "is not limited to our borders and we must be present in Syria to maintain Iran's security." Previously, Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, had stated during the funeral of Hamid Taghavi, an IRGC commander killed in Iraq, that "if the Taghavis do not shed blood in Samarra, we must shed blood in Sistan, Azerbaijan, Shiraz, and Isfahan." Iranian officials have repeatedly referred to Syria as the "first front of resistance" against Israel and the United States. Iran and Arab Sunni countries in the Persian Gulf have long been engaged in intense competition over the civil wars in Syria and Yemen, which some media and analysts refer to as a "proxy war." Meanwhile, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, warned on May 19 in a strong statement regarding unrest in the region that if "enemies" bring proxy wars "to Iran's borders," Tehran's response will be "very hard." In this context, there has been a widespread reaction from Iranian officials to the death of Hossein Hamdani.