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The Role of Iranian Security Forces in the Syrian Bloodshed

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)- Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall - Amid the intensifying crisis in Syria, which in recent weeks has seen massacres of the civilian population in various parts of the country, Iranian military, propaganda, and economic assistance keeps flowing in, and its aim is help President Bashar al-Assad survive. Iran views the confrontation in Syria as critical battle ground with the west regarding the reshaping of the Middle East and to its own role in the region as a key and vital and influential player. At present Hizbullah's weapons are serving - under Iran's command - as part of Assad's apparatus of violent repression. Esmail Ghani, deputy commander of the IRGC-QF, confirmed reports by Syrian opposition elements and Western sources about active involvement of elite units of the IRGC-QF, together with the Syrian army, in violent repression of the protest. Iranian and Hizbullah fighters have been captured in main centers of fighting including Homs. In their confessions they admit that they belong to the IRGC-QF and were sent to put down the disturbances in Syria. In a late-May daily press briefing U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland pointed to Iran's involvement in the Houla massacre, linking the Qods Force to the incident and implicitly to other incidents in Syria as well. She noted the great similarity in structure and operational methods between the Shabiha forces that stood, according to various testimonies, behind the massacre and the Basij, the volunteer arm of the IRGC-QF.
2012-06-22 00:00:00
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