Al-Sharq al-Awsat, May 9, 2016
The number of Iranians killed in Aleppo is still uncertain. What it is certain is that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has suffered big losses there, as confirmed by the Iranian confusion in data and conflicting statements on the death of some members of Quds Force during the “proxy war waged against Iran.”
Other statements said they have been killed “defending Ahl al-Bait’s (family of the prophet Mohammed) shrines in Syria,” as claimed by Hussein Ali Rezai, Public Relations Officer for the Karbala Corps. According to Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran’s Supreme Leader advisor, “Iran is using all their power to fight the terrorists who commit crimes against the oppressed peoples in the region.” All these statements are not of course worth the price of the ink they were written with. This is propaganda, the aim of which is to address the locals who do not believe what Iran, Assad, or even Hezbollah say.
Therefore the Iranian losses in the lines of the Revolutionary Guards, the Quds Force, or others, are expected now, but in the future Iranian losses in Syria and the region will be greater. The evidence is what happened and is happening in Iraq, where hostility to Iran is no longer a secret, both from Shiites Arab, or Iraqi Sunnis, who are a large and important part in the Iraqi community, even though some have tried reducing their size, their role, and their influence. So what is happening to Iranians in Aleppo is not surprising, and it shows how the future of the Syrian-Iranian relationship will be. What Iran is doing there is an aggression against Syrians, and specifically against Syrian majority which Assad and Iran are trying to label as terrorists while they are not [….].
Zawahiri: Go Forth to the Land of Syria... Where the True Jihad Is!
As-Safir, May 9, 2016
The leader of Al-Qaeda international organization, Ayman al-Zawahiri, calls his supporters to focus on Syria, and wishes a military escalation in that area.
In a precise and unambiguous speech, al-Zawahiri gave the green light to the Nusra Front – its branch in Sham – to take fateful decisions, but the road map he developed to achieve this looks so complicated that it can’t be applied.
The speech al-Zawahiri released yesterday through As-Sahab Foundation, titled “Go forth to Syria”, arrived in a very sensitive and complex moment of the Syrian war on the political and militarily level.
The political process is stalled and the truce agreements failed one after another, while the heat is back to the battlefronts in more than one place, the Nusra front’s role have been rising during the past two months and has achieved significant gains. [….]
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