55 Iranians killed in Syria fighting, Israeli intelligence says
Tehran seeking to downplay toll of soldiers dying in support of Assad regime, reports Israeli think tank
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleTamar Pileggi is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
More than 55 Iranian soldiers have been killed in Syria, fighting on behalf of President Bashar Assad’s regime, according to recent estimates from Israel’s intelligence community.
A senior IDF officer told Reuters that Israeli intelligence findings indicated “55-plus” Iranians had been killed in clashes with Syrian opposition rebels in recent weeks.
Estimates from the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center — a think-tank close to Israel’s security establishment — reported a similar number of Iranian casualties.
The think tank said 53 soldiers, including senior officers, from the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps have been killed since Iran launched a major ground offensive almost two months ago.
The uptick in casualties, which Tehran has sought to downplay and hide from the public, are undermining the domestic support for its continued military intervention in Syria, the think tank said.
The death toll has forced the Iranian leadership to “provide justification for Iran’s military involvement in Syria and explanations for the high number of Iranians killed,” the think tank said. “To that end the regime instituted a media campaign to enlist public opinion to support Iranian involvement in Syria and obviate any possible criticism.”
The Meir Amit center said the high casualty rate indicated the Iranian soldiers were fighting the ground offensive on the front lines.
The IDF officer who spoke to Reuters said the Hezbollah death toll in Syria stood at between 1,000 and 2,000.
The Times of Israel Community.