Iran Begins To Evacuate Military Officials And Personnel From Syria Amidst Rebels Offensive

The decision by one of Damascus's key allies marked a “remarkable turn” for Assad.

Iran began to evacuate its military commanders and personnel from Syria. Such actions by Tehran, which is one of the key allies of Damascus, could be a sign of Iran’s inability to help keep dictator Bashar al-Assad in power as he faces a resurgent rebel offensive.

This is reported by The New York Times.

Regional officials and three Iranian officials have reported the beginning of withdrawal of Iranian military and personnel from Syria to the US media.

Among those evacuated to neighboring Iraq and Lebanon were top commanders of Iran’s powerful Quds Forces, the external branch of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, the officials said.

“Iranians began to leave Syria on Friday morning, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue,” writes NYT.

Evacuations are reported at the Iranian embassy in Damascus and at IRGC bases.

Some are leaving by plane to Tehran, while others are leaving via land routes to Lebanon, Iraq and the Syrian port of Latakia, the officials said.

“Iran is starting to evacuate its forces and military personnel because we cannot fight as an advisory and support force if Syria’s army itself does not want to fight,” Mehdi Rahmati, a prominent Iranian analyst who advises officials on regional strategy, said.

“The bottom line,” he added in a conversation with journalists, “is that Iran has realized that it cannot manage the situation in Syria right now with any military operation and this option is off the table.”

The US media point out that the evacuation order signaled a remarkable turn for Mr. al-Assad, whose government Iran has backed throughout Syria’s 13-year civil war, and for Iran, which has used Syria as a key route to supply weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iranian forces in Syria

Alongside Russia, Iran has been the Syrian government’s most powerful supporter, sending advisers and commanders to bases and the front lines and backing militias.

Tehranis also reported to deploy “tens of thousands” of volunteer fighters, including Iranians, Afghans and Pakistani Shias, to defend the government and to retake territory from the “Islamic State” terrorist group at the height of Syria’s civil war.

Some of Iran’s forces, like the Afghan Fatemiyoun brigade, had remained in Syria at military bases operated by Iran. On December 6, they were also being transferred to Damascus and Latakia, an Assad government stronghold, the Iranian officials said.

Flight of Iranian generals

At the background of the massive offensive of the rebels in Syria, who in a little over a week have swept through major cities like Aleppo and Hama, captured swaths of territory across four provinces, and moved toward Syria’s capital, Damascus, two top generals of Iran’s Quds forces, deployed to advise the Syrian army, had fled to Iraq as various rebel groups took over Homs and Deir al-Zour on Friday, NYT writes.

Tehran is watching Syria “at the verge of collapse”.

“Syria is at the verge of collapse and we are watching calmly,” said Ahmad Naderi, an Iranian Parliament member, in a post on social media on Friday. He added that if Damascus fell, Iran would also lose its sway in Iraq and Lebanon.

Yesterday, the leader of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, said that the main goal of the rebels remains the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime, as well as “building new Syria”.

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