Iran Serving As Russia’s ‘Ground Force’ In Syria

Iranian militants have begun acting as Russia’s de facto “ground force” in Syria, where they have begun waging “an ethnic cleansing campaign” in order to eradicate opposition to the embattled President Bashar al-Assad, according to leading members of Congress, defense officials, and outside experts.

A Pentagon official who was not authorized to speak on the record confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon that the United States “continue[s] to see Iranian-sponsored forces providing support to the Syrian regime in their fight against Syrian opposition forces.”

It is now believed that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps forces are acting as Russia’s “ground force” in Syria, helping Moscow to clear out primarily secular opposition forces battling to depose Assad, according to lawmakers and regional experts.

Both Russia and Iran have tried to avoid battling Islamic State militants in the country despite repeated claims otherwise, these sources said.

Iran has significantly boosted its presence in Syria, sending highly trained fighters and top military officials to take the lead in the fight to defend Assad, according to these sources, who also noted that the Obama administration is doing very little to counter this aggression.

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“If we look at the combat fatalities of the revolutionary guards in Syria, we see that the place of death is usually the places that have been bombed by the Russian air force,” Ali Alfoneh, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

“So the revolutionary guard is in practice acting as the infantry force, the ground force, of Russia,” Alfoneh said. “We also know from U.S. government sources that Russia is not bombing the Islamic State. Russia is bombing the secular opposition to Bashar al-Assad’s regime.”

Once Russian forces finish their bombing campaigns in opposition strongholds, there is “an influx of revolutionary guards members going into those areas,” Alfoneh said.

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