Official admits more than 2,000 Iranian fighters killed in Iraq, SyriaMarch 7, 2017 - 13:51 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - More than 2,000 fighters sent from Iran have been killed in Iraq and Syria, the head of the veterans’ affairs office said Tuesday, March 7, according to Al Arabiya. “Some 2,100 fighters have been martyred so far in Iraq or other places defending the holy mausoleums,” Mohammad Ali Shahidi told the state-run IRNA news agency. Shahidi, who heads Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, was speaking at a conference on martyrdom culture in Tehran. The figure was more than double the number he gave in November, which referred only to Syria. Iran is, with Russia, the main military backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, also organizing militias fighting ISIS. Shahidi did not provide details on the nationalities of those killed. Iran oversees “volunteer” fighters recruited from among its own nationals as well as Shiite communities in neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan. The families of those killed in battle are given Iranian citizenship under a law passed last May. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |