Iran has provided military support to Syrian government forces during more than a decade of civil war, but a series of attacks targeting Iranian officers in recent months has prompted Tehran to reorganize its presence. them, according to AFP sources.
A source close to the Hezbollah force in Lebanon said Iran “has withdrawn its forces from southern Syria”, including Quneitra and Daraa provinces adjacent to the Golan Heights, an area that Israel controls.
However, Iran still maintains a presence in other parts of Syria, according to the above source.
Recent months have seen a series of attacks on Iranian targets in Syria, most of which Tehran blames on Israel. The climax was the airstrike on April 1 that leveled a building belonging to the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, killing 7 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including 2 generals.
Iranian Embassy area in Damascus (Syria) after the attack on April 1
Iran retaliated for the airstrike in Damascus with an attack using more than 300 missiles and drones, the first time directly targeting Israeli territory, on April 13-14, escalating regional tensions.
But according to sources close to Hezbollah, Tehran began withdrawing its forces after the January 20 attack that killed five IRGC members in Damascus, including an Iranian intelligence leader in Syria and his deputy.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a war monitoring organization based in Britain, said Iranian forces had withdrawn from Damascus and southern Syria. According to SOHR Director Rami Abdel Rahman, Iranian-backed armed groups in Lebanon and Iraq have replaced them.
Iran has repeatedly stated that it has no troops to fight in Syria, only officers for military advice and training. But SOHR said Iran has deployed up to 3,000 military personnel in Syria and this force is supported by tens of thousands of Iranian-trained fighters, from countries including Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to Mr. Abdel Rahman, many Iranian advisers have left Syria in recent months, especially after the attack that killed an IRGC member and two others in March, although some are still active in Aleppo province in the north and Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria.
Recent visitors to Damascus told AFP that Iran’s presence has become less visible in the Syrian capital, with several Iranian military offices in the old town there now closed.
They also said the Iranian national flag and portraits of Iranian leaders hanging in many areas of Damascus have mostly disappeared. Iran’s presence is currently only visible in Sayyida Zeinab, an important Shi’ite Muslim pilgrimage site located on the southern outskirts of Damascus.
