Official admits more than 2,000 Iranian fighters killed in Iraq, Syria

Official admits more than 2,000 Iranian fighters killed in Iraq, Syria

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.

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