Iran has started evacuating military commanders and other Iranian officials from Syria, the New York Times reports, as the Syrian government comes under increasing pressure from advancing rebel forces.
Citing regional and Iranian officials, the report says among those who have been moved out of Syria are senior commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, some diplomats and their families, and civilians, with the evacuations beginning Friday morning.
The US newspaper also reports that some of the officials left by Tehran via plane, while others departed by land for Lebanon, Iraq and the Syrian port city of Latakia.
Together with Russia, the Islamic Republic has been a key supporter of President Bashar al-Assad during the over decade-long Syrian civil war, with the Syrian regime serving as a key component in the Iran-led anti-Israel, anti-US “axis of resistance” along with Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror organization and other Iranian proxy groups across the region.
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