7,000 Iranian and Iraqi fighters join Assad forces

Thousands of Iranian and Iraqi fighters are reported to have arrived in Syria to defend Damascus and its suburbs, after opposition factions announced their next target will be to seize the capital, a Syrian security source announced.

The source told AFP: “Around 7,000 Iranian and Iraqi fighters have arrived in Syria over the past few weeks and their first priority is the defence of the capital. The larger contingent is Iraqi.”

The anonymous source added: “The goal is to reach 10,000 men to support the Syrian army and pro-government militias, firstly in Damascus, and then to retake Jisr Al-Shughur because it is key to the Mediterranean coast and the Hama region.”

On Monday, Iran’s IRNA news agency quoted elite Revolutionary Guards General, Qassem Soleimani, as saying: “In the coming days the world will be surprised by what we are preparing, in cooperation with Syrian military leaders.”

A diplomatic source close to Damascus said Syrian officials asked their allies for more support on the ground after they sustained a series of losses during confrontations with jihadists and armed opposition groups over the past few weeks.

Newspapers close to the Syrian regime said large numbers of Iranian Revolutionary Guards have arrived in Damascus as part of the joint defence agreement.

Syria and Iran signed a joint defence agreement in 2006 allowing Iran to intervene militarily if requested to do so by Syrian regime officials.

The two countries have also signed a memorandum of understanding in the field of joint defence and military affairs in 2009.

Meanwhile, Syrian Minister of Defence, General Fahd Jassem Al-Freij, visited the Syrian army units east of the city of Homs and stressed the army’s ability to defend the country against “terrorism and its supporters”.