Posted on 10/23/2017 1:14:34 PM PDT by drewh
Iran has transferred elements of its elite 65th Brigade to Syria. On arrival they assumed command of the Syrian Malik Ashtar commando brigade.
Tehran announced that elements of its Special Operations 65th Brigade (which compares itself to US Green Berets), had been deployed to Syria to bolster the Assad regime’s depleted frontline forces. The transfer took place during Iranian Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri’s three-day visit to Damascus when a series of accords boosting their military cooperation accords were signed.
The 65th Brigade is one of four Iranian special operations outfits. It was the first regular Iranian military unit to be transferred to foreign soil, contrary to the Islamic Republic’s constitution. Until now, only Revolutionary Gards officers were deployed to Syria for command and training functions.
The new deployment was disclosed by Brig. Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, commander of the Iranian army’s ground forces. He reported that the capabilities of these Iranian commandoes were so advanced, that they immediately assumed command of the Syrian Malik Ashtar commando brigade.
Military sources report that these Iranian troops are trained to operate behind enemy lines in small groups for capturing command posts, military positions and vehicles, before taking prisoners and bringing them back to Iranian-held terrain. They are also drilled for sabotage, such as blowing up bridges and strategic infrastructure deep inside enemy country. Iran’s 65th Brigade can act as a special counterterrorism unit. The number of Iranian commandos transferred to Syria and their location were not disclosed.
The integration of Iranian special ops forces in the Syrian army has rattled the US command center in Jordan as well as Jordanian and Israeli military chiefs. Apart from the northern province of Idlib, most of the main Syrian towns held by rebels have fallen into the hands of the Syrian government, taken with the help of Hizballah and other pro-Iranian allies.
So what exactly is the function of the new Iranian arrivals?
Neither the US, Jordan or Israel is eager to see these new arrivals anywhere in their vicinity. Above all, their arrival is a blunt challenge to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Lieberman, who have declared repeatedly that Israel would not tolerate the deepening of Iran’s military entrenchment in Syria and would take action to counter it.
The annihilation of Damascus is approaching.
I could be mistaken but I really doubt the Syrians will take orders from the Iranians
who cares ?
it’s a cesspool of intercine squabbling tribes who turn on each other at a moments notice.
not worth our blood nor our treasure.
America First
Now that ISIS is defeated we can be hostile to Iran again.
all of this is bathouse barry soetoro’s doing, he gave them the money for it in that scam nuke deal.
How long till the mullahs nukes are in operation?
Yes. the more hostile and anti-American the Muslim terrorist group or country was, the more obama aided and abetted armed and funded them
Russia and Iran are winning in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Not good.
Iran’s trying to make a land bridge to the Palis..
This all came about thanks to the Lary/Kerry/Barry team on foreign policy in the middle east. They used diplomacy, treaties and double speak like a giant doormat to sweep everything under. Trump sees the Iranians for what they are and not only calls them on it, he backs it up!
Do the speak the same language?
Farsi and Arabic are very different languages, but ‘Iranian commandos’ may be mercenaries or volunteers from the broader Muslim world, as may be the ‘Syrian’ forces.
So they have no ‘resentment’ communication that’s well understood?
I cant believe Jean Francois kethup man wants to run again lol! He just cant let go...
...The Soufan Group, a New York-based intelligence firm, estimated in June that there were at least 12,000 foreign fighters from 81 countries in the Syrian conflict...
This is not the first deployment of Iranian Regular Army units into combat in Syria by any means. Many units have been rotated through over the years, and they have taken heavy casualties, including General Officers from families of the Iranian elite.
Iran did stand up Shi’ite militias in Syria to replace its regular Army units a couple of years ago though, composed of foreign mercenaries (largely Afghan and Pakistani Shi’ites), so this deployment is significant (if true, we are getting this from Debka).
They may be targeting some particular hot objective (such as oil fields or roads into Iraq), or preparing to target them with terrorist-like raids after the main war ends by training this force in Syria.
Iran’s doctrine is to establish local Shi’ite militias in other countries (like Hizbollah) as their local surrogates, under the direct (though covert) command of the Iranian Republican Guards Corps. So this might be a training mission for their “Green Beret” equivalents to train such a unit. Even if they are training for the long haul, there will probably be pressing combat objectives they will use these Syrian guys for, before the fluid battlefield settles out.
excellent as usual bo. keep posting to these threads!
Ping
Another possibility is that those Syrian units have just taken so many casualties and had such low morale, that they were becoming combat ineffective.
The Syrian military is a shell of its former self. To a growing degree, Iran provides the Army, and Russia the Air Force for Assad.
Iran has widely extended itself. If we can kick the legs out from its finances (like last week’s terrorist designation of the IRGC), it will be difficult for Iran to keep so many fronts working at once.
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