Iran has begun evacuating its military commanders and personnel from Syria.
The moves come as a sign of a failure to help keep President Bashar al-Assad in power as he faces a growing rebel offensive, The New York Times reported, citing three Iranian officials.
Among those evacuated to neighboring Iraq and Lebanon were senior commanders of Iran’s powerful Quds Force, an external branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
According to Iranian officials, personnel of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), some Iranian diplomats, members of their families and Iranian civilians, as well as regional officials, were also evacuated.
Evacuation orders were issued by the Iranian Embassy in Damascus and at Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps bases. At least some of the embassy staff have already left.
Some of the evacuations are carried out by plane to Tehran, while others travel by land to Lebanon, Iraq and the Syrian port of Latakia.
Iran begins evacuating its forces and military personnel because we cannot fight as an advisory and auxiliary force if the Syrian army itself does not want to fight. The bottom line is that Iran has realized that it cannot deal with the situation in Syria now through military action, and that option is not on the table, said Mehdi Rahmati, a prominent Iranian analyst who advises officials on regional strategy.
The evacuation order marked a significant turn for the Assad regime, whose government Iran supported during Syria’s 13-year civil war, and for Iran, which has used Syria as a key route to supply weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Along with Russia, Iran has been Assad’s most powerful supporter, sending advisers and commanders to bases and front lines and supporting his army.
The Assad regime is falling – after the delight of Aleppo and Hama, the rebels have come close to the second major city of the country.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.