Iranians Dial Up Presence in Syria

Shiite Militiamen From Across the Arab World Train at a Base Near Tehran to Do Battle in Syria.

At a base near Tehran, Iranian forces are training Shiite militiamen from across the Arab world to do battle in Syria—showing the widening role of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria’s bloody war.

The busloads of Shiite militiamen from Iraq, Syria and other Arab states have been arriving at the Iranian base in recent weeks, under cover of darkness, for instruction in urban warfare and the teachings of Iran’s clerics, according to Iranian military figures and residents in the area. The fighters’ mission: Fortify the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad against Sunni rebels, the U.S. and Israel.

Iran’s widening role in Syria has helped Mr. Assad climb back from near-defeat in less than a year. The role of Iran’s training camp for Shiite fighters hasn’t previously been disclosed.

The fighters “are told that the war in Syria is akin to [an] epic battle for Shiite Islam, and if they die they will be martyrs of the highest rank,” says an Iranian military officer briefed on the training camp, which is 15 miles outside Tehran and called Amir Al-Momenin, or Commander of the Faithful.

The training of thousands of fighters is an outgrowth of Iran’s decision last year to immerse itself in the Syrian civil war on behalf of its struggling ally, the Assad regime, in an effort to shift the balance of power in the Middle East.

On one side of this proxy war is Mr. Assad, backed by Iran, Russia and Shiite militias. On the other side, the rebels, backed by Saudi Arabia, Arab states and the U.S.

A senior official at Iran’s mission to the United Nations says, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has no military involvement in Syria.” The official, Alireza Miryousefi, says the main obstacle to peace in Syria is “the foreign financial and military support that Syrian rebels receive from some Arab and Western countries.”

The military wing of Lebanese Hezbollah has alone sent thousands of fighters into Syria in coordination with the Guards. Hezbollah commanders currently control important strategic areas reclaimed by the Damascus regime, including the city of Qusayr, some sections of the city of Homs.

Iran’s overseas commander, Gen. “Qasem Soleimani is now running Syria,” says Col. Ahmed Hamada, an officer with the rebel Free Syrian Army, based in its command near the northern city of Aleppo. “Bashar is just his mayor.”

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