Two more Iranian commanders killed in Syria

The Islamic Republic denies having any military forces in Syria, but says it offers “military advice” to Assad’s forces in their fight against “terrorist groups”.

Soleimani rose to worldwide attention as the powerful leader of the Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the brigade that’s purportedly been playing a role alongside the Syrian government and Hezbollah in the conflict.

On Tuesday, an Iranian state television reporter working in Syria, in two posts on the Instagram photosharing service, named them as Brigadier General Farshad Hasounizadeh and Hamid Mukhtarband. Iran has worked hard to keep Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power more than four years after the civil war in Syria began.

Iran has sent thousands of troops into Syria in recent days to bolster a planned ground offensive against insurgents in Aleppo by the Syrian army, which will also be supported by Russian air strikes, two senior regional officials told Reuters.

Social media lit up on Tuesday with photos of Soleimani-the terror mastermind who is sanctioned by both the United Nations and the United States-speaking to a group of what appears to be soldiers in Hezbollah and Syrian Army fatigues. That’s been the catalyst for a renewed offensive by Assad’s army and its Iranian allies on the ground, with battles raging around the key cities of Aleppo and Hama.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to suffer major casualties in its attempts to prop up the Assad regime. “If they don’t then they’re going to pay a price”.

Their deaths come after another top commander, General Hossein Hamadani, was killed on Thursday night on the outskirts of Aleppo. He helped establish the Revolutionary Guards in Iran, commanded units in the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, and organised Shiite militias in Iraq after the 2003 U.S. invasion.

In a public message of condolence, President Hassan Rouhani praised Hamedani as a “martyr” and said his death was a “big loss”.