Iran was ‘defeated very badly’ in Syria, general admits

Iranian general admits in leaked audio recording that he is ‘not proud’ of overthrow of longtime ally Bashar Assad in Syria, calls his ouster a ‘very big blow’ to Tehran.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

A senior Iranian officer admitted that the Islamic republic suffered a stinging defeat with the loss of the Assad regime in Syria last month, blaming deposed President Bashar Assad and his Russian allies for the rebel takeover.

According to a report published by The New York Times on Wednesday, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati, who was the commander of the Iranian forces in Syria prior to the ouster of Assad on December 8, spoke candidly at a Tehran mosque last week regarding Iran’s “defeat” in Syria.

A recording of his speech was leaked to Iranian media and dissident outlets, the Times reported, revealing both Esbati’s harsh criticism of Iran’s allies, including the Assad regime, and the Russian military, as well as the impact of the loss of a key longtime ally of Tehran.

“I don’t consider losing Syria something to be proud of,” Esbati said. “We were defeated, and defeated very badly; we took a very big blow, and it’s been very difficult.”

Esbati argued that Assad himself was partly to blame for his ouster, claiming the former Syrian leader had declined Iranian offers of assistance.

Assad’s defeat came following a months-long period of strained ties with Iran, after he rebuffed multiple requests by Tehran to launch a large-scale attack on Israel from Syrian territory using local pro-Iranian militias.

The IRGC officer also accused Russia’s military of misleading Iran, claiming that Moscow had told Tehran that its airforce was carrying out an aggressive air campaign against Syrian rebel forces, while Russian planes were in fact dropping their ordinance in open fields, Esbati claimed.

While Iran has ostensibly reached out to the new Syrian leadership, led by Sunni fundamentalists who have long advocated for the termination of Iranian influence in their country, Esbati hinted at a possible campaign to overthrow the provisional government.

“We can activate all the networks we have worked with over the years,” he said. “We can activate the social layers that our guys lived among for years. We can be active in social media, and we can form resistance cells.”