Two Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers killed in Syria – Tasnim

Jamil Saleh, the leader of Tajammu Alezzah, a CIA-backed Free Syrian Army faction.

Meanwhile, the USA and Russian militaries were finalizing a memorandum of understanding that sets out basic air-safety procedures in the skies above Syria, a US official said after the latest round of talks between the two nations on Wednesday.

Syrian troops launched offensives in Idlib and Hama provinces last week under the cover of Russian airstrikes.

The visit, led by the chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, came as Iranian troops prepared to bolster a Syrian army offensive that two senior officials told Reuters would target rebels in Aleppo.

The official, who has deep knowledge of operational details in Syria, said the Iranian Revolutionary Guards – now numbering around 1,500 – began arriving about two weeks ago, after the Russian airstrikes began, and have accelerated recently.

In contrast to Afghanistan, Syria could develop into more than just a proxy war with Sunni countries like Turkey and Saudi Arabia. It was not the first time for Carter to dismiss the possibility of cooperation between US-led coalition and Russian Federation on the anti-IS campaign. The United States says they have also targeted other rebel groups. In another sign of Iran’s central role in support of President Bashar al-Assad, a team of Iranian lawmakers arrived in Damascus on Wednesday, and pictures circulated on social media showed the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, in western Syria. The north of the country remains under control of the Houthis and only a division of Yemen would at this point allow the Saudis to disengage from the country militarily.

Russia’s entry into Syria’s civil war has stoked concerns about an accident between US and Russian Federation jets.

The violence also killed 17 rebel fighters, he added.

And finally, a defeat at the hands of Western weaponry could lower global interest in cutting deals with the Russian arms industry.

Russia’s predominantly Sunni Muslim community that opposes IS.

Their arrival, a regional official and Syrian activists said Wednesday, highlights the far-reaching goals of Russia’s military involvement in Syria.

Russia’s only way out of what is likely to be a quagmire like Afghanistan, would be to ultimately install a Chechen-style Sunni potentate in Damascus.

This article was originally posted in RSIS.