Iranian expansion of air and naval bases in Syria is a threat to all

Oubai Shahbandar

Arab News, 18 July 2017 - Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has taken advantage of recent cease-fire talks to further consolidate and expand its presence in Syria. While some Western diplomats have hailed limited and localized cease-fires in Syria as an important stepping stone to halting the violence, it is clear that the Iranians have other plans in mind.

The cease-fire is holding in most of the heaviest-hit areas in southwest Syria, but not all. The Iranian regime is desperate for a respite from having to engage on multiple front lines in Syria, as the IRGC and Assad’s Shiite militant proxies suffer a significant toll in casualties — forcing them to rely increasingly upon hapless Afghan Hazara foreign fighters. Referred to in various reports as “cannon fodder,” the Afghan Shiite militias known as the “Fatemiyoun Brigade” are just one pillar in IRGC Commander Qassem Soleimani’s grand plan in Syria.

Soleimani has recognized that IRGC and Lebanese Hezbollah forces — which comprise on behalf of the Assad regime the overwhelming bulk of the field commanders and front-line troops — are at the forefront of the heaviest fighting against opposition forces. Assad regime loyalist militias tend to be relegated to checkpoint duty or to moving into areas only after they have been captured by the Iranian and Hezbollah fighters.
source:Iranian expansion of air and naval bases in Syria is a threat to all