Iran pulls senior officials from Syria after “Israeli” airstrikes

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have decided to scale back their deployment in Syria following the multiple “Israeli” airstrikes that killed several senior Iranian officials within the corps - five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Iran is concerned about “security” leaks within the Syrian government, and has opted to rely and coordinate “remotely” with its proxies in the region.

Top leadership and several middle-ranking officials have been pulled out of Syria, and the IRGC will rely on Hezbollah to coordinate its operations in Syrian territory from now on.

Iran's decision is motivated partly to avoid being involved directly into a wider conflict across the Middle East, three of the sources told Reuters, adding that Iran is not intending to completely withdraw from Syria.

“Israeli” strikes killed more than a dozen of the IRGC’s members, including Razi Mousavi, the most senior Iranian commander killed since Qassem Soleimani. Mousavi was a General in Al-Quds Force, one of the five branches of the IRGC and was killed on Dec. 25, 2023. He was described as “Iran's most influential military commander in Syria,” and was responsible for facilitating arms and funds to Hezbollah.

Five IRGC members, including the Guards’ Chief of Intel in Syria, were killed on Jan. 20 by another “Israeli” airstrike in Damascus.