Iran terror group ‘downsizes’ in Syria to avoid Israeli airstrikes – report

The source said, ‘The Iranians won’t abandon Syria but they’ve greatly reduced their presence and movements.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is pulling out of Syria to avoid Israeli airstrikes which are suspected to have killed  a dozen terrorists in their ranks, including key leaders Reuters reports.

One of the sources said it wasn’t a departure, but Iran was “downsizing” in the region.

The IRGC, which was deployed to Syria a decade ago to assist President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war, has experienced significant losses recently.

In the past few weeks, airstrikes in Syria assumed to have been launched by Israel killed 12 members of the IRGC terror group, half of whom were senior intelligence leaders.

Even though many in Tehran want the terrorist groups to take revenge against Israel and its allies, three sources told Reuters Iran is pulling IRGC leaders out of Syria to avoid getting embroiled in a growing Middle East conflict.

Iran insists that, although it’s moving the terrorists group from Syria, it has no intention of leaving the country entirely because Syria represents a sphere of influence that is valuable to Iran.

Although Iran hasn’t fought with Israel directly, it funds and supports multiple terror groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Currently, the IRGC have left their offices and are laying low.

The source said, “The Iranians won’t abandon Syria but they reduced their presence and movements to the greatest extent.”

They added that the “downsizing” would “help Tehran to avoid being pulled into the Israel-Gaza war.”

Airstrikes attributed to Israel are launched against terrorist targets in Syria to combat the presence of Iran and Hezbollah in the region.

On January 20, five members of the IRGC were killed by airstrikes in Syria that flattened a building.

On December 25, airstrikes killed Sayyed Razi Mousavi, a key Quds leader who was responsible for communication between Syria and Iran.