Iran backs Assad in battle for Aleppo with proxies, ground troops

In a striking sign of Iran’s growing regional influence, a major assault on Syria’s most populous city is being coordinated by an Iranian military commander using Shiite forces from three countries to back President Bashar al-Assad’s beleaguered troops, militia officials said.

Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force, has ordered thousands of Iraqi Shiite militia allies into Syria for the operation to recapture Aleppo, according to officials from three of the militias. The militiamen are to join Iranian troops and forces from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia, the officials said.

Soleimani has been a frequent sight on the battlefields in neighboring Iraq, where he has been advising Iraqi forces fighting Islamic State militants
The battle for Sunni-majority Aleppo, announced Friday by Syria, is important because of the city’s size and prominence as an economic hub before the outbreak of Syria’s civil war. Its eastern side has been held by rebels since 2012.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...bec268-765f-11e5-a5e2-40d6b2ad18dd_story.html

the Shiite militias/Qusd forces/Hezbollah/Asaad and backed by Russian air are a coherent fighting force.

Compare that to the fractured 'rebels /jihadists/secularists of the Sunnis.
I've seen talk about "why doesn't Saudi Arabia, or the Gulf States engage? -
the Sunni coalition does work on paper at least in Yemen, but not Syria. It's too fractured

Iran, very simply, does not want to have to deal with an ISIS lead Syria. That is really what it comes down to, none of the governments over there want to have to compete ideologically with such Islamic extremism and fundamentalism. And they have all figured out, well... all but the US, that there is no such thing as "moderates" to support.

So of course they would help al-Assad, he is the far better of those two evils.

OrphanSlug said:

Iran, very simply, does not want to have to deal with an ISIS lead Syria. That is really what it comes down to, none of the governments over there want to have to compete ideologically with such Islamic extremism and fundamentalism.

So of course they would aid al-Assad, he is the far better of those two evils.

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Assad is an Iranian puppet and has been long before ISIS was formed, he allows Iran to express its dominance in Syrian lands and through it Iran gained great influence in Lebanon in the form of Hezbollah. Losing Assad would be a huge lost for Russia but even more so for Iran, and that is the only reason why they fight alongside his forces. It's not that they care about ISIS, and they sure as hell don't consider their no.1 puppet "evil" as he cooperates with their own evil ideology - it's merely that they care about Assad and that's why they're not fighting just ISIS or Sunni Islamists, they're fighting every single organization that opposes his regime.

Apocalypse said:

Assad is an Iranian puppet and has been long before ISIS was formed, he allows Iran to express its dominance in Syrian lands and through it Iran gained great influence in Lebanon in the form of Hezbollah. Losing Assad would be a huge lost for Russia but even more so for Iran, and that is the only reason why they fight alongside his forces. It's not that they care about ISIS, and they sure as hell don't consider their no.1 puppet "evil" as he cooperates with their own evil ideology - it's merely that they care about Assad and that's why they're not fighting just ISIS or Sunni Islamists, they're fighting every single organization that opposes his regime.

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We are not saying anything in opposition to one another.

Qods Force commander photographed with Iraqi militia in Aleppo | The Long War Journal


Harakat al Nujaba, an Iraqi Shiite militia that operates in both Iraq and Syria, has posted a photo of its fighters posing with Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani in Aleppo province.

Soleimani is instrumental in organizing Syrian and Iraqi militias, as well as Hezbollah, to battle Sunni jihadists and allied rebels in Syria.
He has played a similar role in Iraq, where he has organized, trained, and equipped Shiite militias along the lines of Lebanese Hezbollah to fight the Islamic State.
The leaders of some of these militias are listed by the US as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and remain hostile to the US. Soleimani is occasionally photographed with these militia leaders

Tens of thousands have fled new regime offensives in Syria, according to the UN, as the total number of casualties from Russian airstrikes so far was reported to have reached 370, many of them civilians
The Observatory said Russian strikes had targeted Aleppo, Damascus, Homs and Idlib provinces.
The exodus was focused south of second city Aleppo, one of five areas where loyalist forces have launched offensives since Russia began its air war on 30 September.

Around 35,000 people are reported to have been displaced from ... the south-western outskirts of Aleppo city, following government offensives,” said Vanessa Huguenin, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
As many as 100,000 people were fleeing the army’s ground assaults in Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces, it said.

Tens of thousands flee Aleppo following latest wave of airstrikes in Syria | World news | The Guardian

annata said:

Qods Force commander photographed with Iraqi militia in Aleppo | The Long War Journal

Harakat al Nujaba, an Iraqi Shiite militia that operates in both Iraq and Syria, has posted a photo of its fighters posing with Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani in Aleppo province.

Soleimani is instrumental in organizing Syrian and Iraqi militias, as well as Hezbollah, to battle Sunni jihadists and allied rebels in Syria.
He has played a similar role in Iraq, where he has organized, trained, and equipped Shiite militias along the lines of Lebanese Hezbollah to fight the Islamic State.
The leaders of some of these militias are listed by the US as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and remain hostile to the US. Soleimani is occasionally photographed with these militia leaders

Click to expand...

The interesting thing about the picture here is the precedence it shows. He isn't in Iraq at the Bayji offensive, and he is willing to make that obvious.

OrphanSlug said:

Iran, very simply, does not want to have to deal with an ISIS lead Syria. That is really what it comes down to, none of the governments over there want to have to compete ideologically with such Islamic extremism and fundamentalism. And they have all figured out, well... all but the US, that there is no such thing as "moderates" to support.

So of course they would help al-Assad, he is the far better of those two evils.

Click to expand...

Assad is the lesser of two evils. As was Hussein, Mubarak and Gaddafi. USFP in the ME has nearly ruined the region.