Iran's Soleimani visits Syrian Golan as Tehran bolsters war effort
- 9 years ago
Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the country's expeditionary al-Quds Force, visited the Syrian side of the Golan in recent days, The Times of Israel has learned.
Soleimani, a powerful figure thought to be at the forefront of Iranian fighting abroad, is in Syria to oversee a new offensive by Iranian and Assad regime troops meant to help the government retake large swaths of the country's north.
His visit to the Golan, near the border with Israel, was apparently intended to boost morale of Syrian and Hezbollah forces - the latter loyal to Iran's regime - after a series of setbacks against the "southern front" of rebel groups in the area.
A regional official and Syrian activists said Wedneday that hundreds of Iranian troops were being deployed in northern and central Syria, dramatically escalating Tehran's involvement in the civil war as they join allied Hezbollah fighters in an ambitious offensive to wrest key areas from rebels amid Russian airstrikes.
Soleimani, a powerful figure thought to be at the forefront of Iranian fighting abroad, is in Syria to oversee a new offensive by Iranian and Assad regime troops meant to help the government retake large swaths of the country's north.
His visit to the Golan, near the border with Israel, was apparently intended to boost morale of Syrian and Hezbollah forces - the latter loyal to Iran's regime - after a series of setbacks against the "southern front" of rebel groups in the area.
A regional official and Syrian activists said Wedneday that hundreds of Iranian troops were being deployed in northern and central Syria, dramatically escalating Tehran's involvement in the civil war as they join allied Hezbollah fighters in an ambitious offensive to wrest key areas from rebels amid Russian airstrikes.