504
Iran began evacuating its military and diplomatic personnel from Syria on December 6.
As The New York Times writes with reference to sources, this shows Tehran's inability to help Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad against the rebels.
Among those evacuated to neighboring Iraq and Lebanon were high-ranking commanders of the Quds Force, an external unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In addition, the personnel of the IRGC, some Iranian diplomats, their families and Iranian civilians were taken out.
According to the sources, part of the evacuation is carried out by planes to Tehran, and others are taken by land routes to Lebanon, Iraq and the Syrian port of Latakia.
"Iran is starting to evacuate its forces and military personnel because we cannot act as an advisory and support force if the Syrian army does not want to fight itself," said Mehdi Rahmati, an Iranian analyst who advises officials on regional strategy.
According to the NYT, the evacuation of the Iranians is a "significant turn" for Assad, whose government Iran has supported during the 13-year civil war in Syria. At the same time, Tehran used this country as a key route for the supply of weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
In addition, along with Russia, Iran was the most powerful ally of the Syrian government. At the height of the civil war, Iran also deployed tens of thousands of volunteers, including Iranians, Afghans and Pakistani Shiites, to fight the regime's battles.
According to sources, on December 6, some Iranian military personnel, in particular the Afghan Fatimiyun Brigade, were transferred to the "stronghold" of the Assad regime - to Damascus and Latakia.
According to Iranian officials, two senior Quds Force generals who advised the Syrian army fled to Iraq after the insurgents seized the cities of Homs and Deir ez-Zor.
"Syria is on the verge of collapse and we are watching calmly... I don't understand the reason for this inaction, but whatever it is, it is harming our country," Iranian parliament member Ahmad Naderi wrote in a social media post on Friday.
He is convinced that if Damascus falls, Iran will also lose its influence in Iraq and Lebanon.
According to the NYT, the rebel offensive coincided with a moment of relative weakness among Syria's three most important allies, with Iran focused on Israel, the Russian military exhausted by the invasion of Ukraine, and Hezbollah suffering serious losses in its own war with Israel.
The war in Syria is the latest news
As he wrote, the Syrian rebels approached Hama, an important city on the Damascus-Aleppo road. Hama was taken under government control at the very beginning of the civil war and remained an important Assadite stronghold for 13 years.
Ukrainian intelligence reported that for the Russians the situation in Syria is only getting worse, their forces are forced to leave the country.
Iran has already said that it is ready to consider the possibility of sending its troops to Syria, but only if the government asks for it.
The main goal of the Syrian rebels is to overthrow the regime of President Bashar Assad and "build a new Syria."
