Who are the Iranians that Russia Evacuated from Syria?
A senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was quick to deny earlier statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, who claimed that Russia had airlifted 4,000 Iranian soldiers from Syria to Tehran.
Mohammad Jafar Asadi, the former commander of Iranian military advisors in Syria and deputy commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters, stated: “A large number of Iranians have been living in Syria for a long time, and Russia has relocated most of them to Iran.”
Asadi added, “These were not part of the Iranian advisory forces. We withdrew our advisory forces from Syria by ourselves. We don’t allow Russia to transport our military forces,” according to Iran International.
Asadi’s comments were in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that Russia had evacuated 4,000 Iranian fighters from Syria to Tehran at the request of Iranian authorities.
Russian media quoted Putin during his annual conference on Thursday saying, “If our Iranian friends asked us earlier to help them transport their forces to Syrian lands, they now ask us to withdraw them from there. We have evacuated 4,000 Iranian fighters to Tehran from Hmeimim base.”
Putin described the situation in Syria as difficult, expressing hope for peace there.
He continued, “We maintain relations with all groups that control the situation in Syria and all countries in the region. Most of these countries confirm their interest in our military bases remaining in Syria.”
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