TEHRAN – A senior political expert has rejected media reports that the commander of the Iranian military advisers in Syria had been expelled at the request of the UAE.
Massoud Asadollahi categorically dismissed allegations that General Javad Ghaffari had been expelled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after a request by the UAE foreign minister.
Asadollahi said the Iranian general’s mission ended last month after holding the post for six years, adding foreign media had offered wrong analyses by linking the termination
of his mission to the UAE foreign minister’s recent visit to Damascus.
General Ghaffari was the third commander of Iranian forces in Syria who had started his mission in a base in Damascus since the outset of the crisis in the Arab country, before being appointed as the commander of the Aleppo base and taking the helm as the chief commander of the advisory forces of Iran and allies in Syria, such as Hezbollah and Fatemiyoun, the expert said.