Gen. Salami: IRGC Forces Were Last to Leave Syria

Date: 13 December 2024 - 23:46

News ID: ۱۳۴۶۳۳

TEHRAN -- The Islamic
Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said Thursday the U.S. and Israel are using Syria’s instability after the fall of the country to foreign-backed militants to destroy its infrastructure.
In a statement, the force strongly condemned attacks on Syria’s territorial integrity, marked by “intense and intensive aggression and bombing of residential and military areas, the destruction of infrastructure and vital centers, and the occupation of areas of Syrian territory”.
It also condemned the “astonishing silence of international communities in the face of this blatant aggression and assault”.
“As stated in the fundamental policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, preserving the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and creating conditions for determining the fate and future political system of the country through the will and choice of its people is an indisputable, legitimate and legal right which must be respected and internationally supported,” it said.
The world, the statement said, is at a major historical turning point, where a new power geometry and global order is forming, with Islam led by the Islamic Republic of Iran being one of its main aspects.
This is “an undeniable truth that has prompted the camp of the enemies of Islam and Muslims to bring all its forces into the field of hostilities with the support of an all-out combined war and the media empire to prevent it from happening,” it said.
The IRGC said the Islamic Resistance Front will “definitely not remain passive, but intelligently confront any plan that seeks to disrupt the resistance and weaken the power and authority of the regional countries through partitioning them and changing their geography”.
The resistance “will make its growth, self-reliance, and stronger motivation a solid support for expelling the U.S. from West Asia and realizing the ideal of freeing the Holy Quds and liberating the Palestinian people,” the IRGC said.
IRGC chief Major General Hussein Salami praised the sacrifices of the force in Syria, revealing that its members were the last group to leave the Arab country after the resurgence of foreign-backed militants.
“Some expect us to go and fight instead of the Syrian army. Is it logical for us to engage all the IRGC and Basij in fighting in another country while the army of that country is merely watching? On the other hand, all the ways for us to get to Syria were closed. The Islamic Republic was really trying day and night to do whatever it could to help,” Salami said.
Stressing that the Islamic Republic takes into account the realities on the ground in Syria and acts based on facts, the IRGC chief said, “Of course, I proudly inform you that the last ones who left the resistance line in Syria were the IRGC forces and the last person who left the battlefield was an IRGC soldier.”
Salami said strategies must change according to the circumstances, adding, “We cannot solve numerous global and regional issues with fixed, unchanging strategies.”
Dismissing reports about Iran’s strategic clout diminishing in the region after the collapse of the Assad government and Israel’s relentless strikes on the resistance front, Salami said, “We have a strong political logic to fight and enjoy conclusive legitimacy to defend [our country].”
The IRGC chief said, “We have a great nation to stand up to [bullies]. We have a great leader to provide guidance and inspiration. We have strong armed forces. If we had been weakened, we would not have conducted True Promise operations.”
Salami also said Syria was the only country that did not acquiesce to compromise or normalization deals, and was invariably in a state of confrontation, defense, resistance in the face of the United States and the Israeli regime.
He said the IRGC had earlier been aware of plots by the armed militants in Syria and warned the Damascus government about them, “but because the will to change, fight, and resilience in its true sense did not exist, unfortunately you saw what came to pass there.”