Baku, Azerbaijan, June 22
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's geography is currently beyond its borders and the Islamic Republic is fighting enemies overseas, Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said.
"Today we are fighting on the Mediterranean coasts and the Horn of Africa," the senior commander said.
Hamedani also quoted Iran 's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying if Syria falls, the Islamic Republic will be forced to fight enemies in its borders.
He referred to Syria as an "effective key point" in region developments, adding Syria is the only country remaining in "resistance frontline."
Hamedani also claimed that the Islamic Republic enemies intervened in Syria to debilitate Iran.
"Cutting Iran's hand from the region and weakening Lebanese Hezbollah group, in order to safeguard Israel security is among the enemy's goals in Syria ," Hamedani said, Iran 's Mehr news agency reported June 22.
He also said that some Iranian commanders remaining from Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) disrupted enemy's equations in Syria , claiming Iranians today are the most popular people in Syria and even in Iraq.
Iran is a close ally of the Syrian government and has always shown its support for the regime of President Bashar Assad.
The Islamic Republic views the Syrian regime as its main strategic ally in the region and as part of an "axis of resistance" against Israel.
Syrian opposition claim that Iranian military forces are fighting against them, while Iran dismisses the claims, saying that Iran only has advisors in Syria, to transfer its military experience to the Syrian army.
In recent months, Iranian media have reported the killing of several Iranians in the Syrian conflict. According to the reports, some of the slain Iranian fighters had gone to Syria to defend a holy shrine in the suburbs of Damascus.
During the conflict in Syria, which began in March 2011, more than 150,000 people have been killed in the country and over 4.2 million have become refugees in Syrian territory and two million have fled to neighboring countries.
Edited by CN
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