Iranian Basij Commander Naqdi Visits Quneitra, Syria
MEMRI/July 27/16
Senior Iranian officials recently explained that the presence of Iranian forces in Syria and Lebanon is part of Iran’s operation on several of its fronts against Israel. The Iranian news agency Fars also revealed that the commander of Iran’s Basij militia recently visited Quneitra, Syria, near the Israeli border.
The following are statements by Iranian officials about Iranian forces’ presence in Syria:
Basij Commander Visits Quneitra
The Iranian news agency Fars, which is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported on July 27, 2016 that the commander of Iran’s Basij militia, Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, had “recently” visited Quneitra, in Syria, “during a visit to southeast Syria and the occupied Golan Heights.” Fars also noted in its report that in January 2015, “the Iranian general [Mohammad] Allah Dadi, senior Hizbullah official Jihad Mughniya [son of 'Imad Mughniya], and a group of Hizbullah fighters were killed in an aerial attack by the Zionist regime.”
Iranian Official: The Palestinians Are Iran’s First Front, Lebanon And Syria Are The Second And Third Fronts
The previous day, July 26, 2016, Iranian Expediency Council member Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri, who is an associate of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said that the Palestinians are the first front of Iran and that Lebanon and Syria are its second and third fronts: “Had we remained silent, and had Syria been conquered, a path would have been paved to reach Iran’s borders. We say that the Palestinians are our first front, and that if we support [them], Israel will remain in its place [and not expand towards us]. Lebanon and Syria are Iran’s second and third fronts. The Leader’s [Ali Khamenei's] wisdom and insight have caused us to stand fast courageously.”[1]
Advisor To IRGC Commander: In Syria, We Are Fighting The Entire World
On July 9, 2016, Gen. Khosro Arouj, supreme advisor to IRGC commander Ali Jafari, told the Iranian news agency Mehr: “It is a falsehood to say that in Syria we are fighting a single group, because we are fighting the entire world [there]… Some in Iran are trying to cast doubt on the need for our military advisory [role] in Syria; their only aim [in doing this] is to say something different in order to stand out, and there is no other reason [for them to do so]…
“Syria is connected to the entire world, and therefore the enemies are perpetually plotting vis-à-vis the Syria crisis. That is why the Israeli and Christian fighters [explain] their fighting as ideological.”[2]
[1] Asr-e Iran (Iran), July 26, 2016.
[2] Mehr (Iran), July 9, 2016.