Iranian military commander: We have forces in Syria, Yemen and Iraq

Deputy head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Lieutenant Gen. Hossein Salami, said that the forces linked to the Iranian revolution in Iraq, Syria and Yemen are 10 times larger than Hezbollah’s forces in Lebanon.

Salami said that Iraq currently has a popular army “which has ties with the [Islamic] Revolution and is 10 times larger than the Lebanese Hezbollah in terms of numbers.”

“Also in Syria, as a pivotal ring of resistance, we have a popular army tied to the Islamic Revolution which has chosen the Basiji [volunteer forces] school of thought as its role model,” he added, according to the Iranian FARS news agency.

Salami also spoke about Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, saying that the movement is inspired by the Islamic Republic’s principles, and the jihadist groups in Palestine, which are in an “ongoing confrontation with the Zionist entity.”

He added that “the Iranian Islamic Revolution is not only working on spreading the culture that wakes up and develops the mentality of the Muslim world, but it is also working toward activating confrontation, which has pulled the rug from under the foreign forces in the region.”

He accused the Americans of conducting operations based on a flawed strategy that caused them to fail in confronting the jihad of the Iranian people, who constitute the active power that motivates jihad in the Muslim world.

He also said that the region is still searching for “a new political and security order. The Islamic Republic of Iran is contributing to producing this order. We have advanced on the enemy in this regard and we have the initiative in shaping this order.”

On his part, the Iranian parliament’s speaker Ali Larijani said that his country has managed to form a deterrent power to preserve its security and help it stand up to threats.

Meanwhile, Western officials and Syrian opposition members have said that Iran has indeed established a Syrian Hezbollah in Syria as a military arm directly tied to the Islamic Republic. This entity is not subjected to Syrian laws or the Syrian regime’s authorities.

The Syrian Hezbollah has several thousand Iranian fighters from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. It also comprises Iraqis, Yemenis and Aghans from various militias.

According to the Syrian opposition, the commanders of Syria’s Hezbollah comprise Iranians and Lebanese figures. The military entity operates under Iranian supervision, either through commanders of the Iranian Republican Guard Corps in Syria or through field commanders from the Lebanese Hezbollah.