U.S. Official: Clear Signs of Iranian Forces Presence in Syria

Despite Iranian officials repeatedly denying the presence of Iranian armed forces in Syria, a spokesperson for the U.S. Central Command stated on Friday, October 16, that there are "clear signs" of Iranian forces in Syria. According to a report by AFP, Pat Ryder emphasized that the U.S. military has observed instances where Iranian forces are collaborating with the Syrian regime's army. This U.S. official added that the Syrian regime's forces are advancing north towards Idlib from Hama with Russian air support, and also moving in a separate column from Latakia towards Idlib in the northeast. Ryder noted that the continuation of recent attacks against opponents of Bashar al-Assad's government indicates that these opponents are weakened in their battle against the "Islamic State" (formerly ISIS), which is consistently seizing areas from opposition control. Meanwhile, another U.S. official told AFP that about "two thousand Iranian and Iran-backed forces" are currently assisting the Syrian army in Aleppo operations. This unnamed official stated that the mentioned forces consist of "Quds Force special forces, Iran-funded proxy groups, and Hezbollah members from Lebanon." The U.S. official further mentioned that these forces have opened a new front against Assad's opponents in southeastern Aleppo and that their operations are coordinated with the Syrian and Russian armies. He concluded by stating that "Iran and Russia's military cooperation in Syria dates back to a visit by General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, to Moscow in August." Russia denied Soleimani's visit to Moscow in August. Last week, following the death of Major General Hossein Hamadani, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and two other IRGC commanders, reports of a significant presence of Iranian military personnel in Syria resurfaced. The release of these reports and the renewed emphasis by U.S. officials on the presence of Iranian forces in Syria come at a time when officials of the Islamic Republic have consistently denied this, claiming that Iranian forces only have an "advisory" role in Syria. In this context, Aladdin Boroujerdi, head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, who recently traveled to Syria, told an Iranian news agency that "Iran has no military presence in Syria." The Mehr news agency also reported on Friday, citing an unnamed Iranian Foreign Ministry official, that the dispatch of fresh Iranian military forces to Syria for an "imminent" operation was denied.