General Hamedani Martyred by USA, Israel’s Mercenaries: IRGC Commander

Officials from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed that a senior commander was killed by the Islamic State group Thursday night in Syria, during military training with the Syrian army.

The pro-IS Aamaq media outlet said the group seized six villages and other strategic positions in Aleppo province after battling armed opposition groups there.

Iran has been a staunch supporter of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and has frequently sent trained forces to combat IS. (All times local in Syria).

Those groups were drawn largely drawn from Syria’s Alawite population and number between 150,000 and 190,000 men.

Analysts say the high-level loss highlights the extent of Iran’s involvement in the fighting.

According to intercepted radio communications, two high-ranking Islamic State field commanders and several hundred militants were killed, the Russian military said.

“General Hamedani, who advised the Syrian army, was killed in Aleppo yesterday evening”, the statement said. “We struck because we know that in Syria, particularly around Raqqa, there are training camps for foreign fighters whose mission is not to fight Daesh on the Levant but to come to France, in Europe to carry out attacks”, said French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

The group said it was not clear if the explosions were the result of air raids by the U.S.-led coalition or Russian warplanes.

Russian warplanes and warships have been bombarding targets across Syria for 10 days in a campaign Moscow says is targeting ISIS fighters, who control large parts of eastern Syria and of neighboring Iraq. Hamedani had played a major role in the war fought between Iran and Iraq during the 1980’s.

“This campaign is aimed first at protecting regime territory in these two provinces, then counter-attacking to retake Idlib and head further north”, Abdel Rahman said.

“They consider no value for human lives; they attack a hospital, murder tens of patients and simply say ‘sorry, it was a mistake!’ ” Khamenei said.

The implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) relies heavily on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s might in the future, Deputy Speaker of Iranian Parliament Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi Fard has said.

He criticized Russia’s stepped-up and wide-ranging military action in Syria, saying “80 to 90 percent” of its actions do not target the Islamic State group.

Washington and its allies want Assad to leave power and accuse Moscow of using a campaign against Islamic State as a pretext to target Assad’s other enemies, many of which receive help from countries that oppose him.