The Supreme Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria admitted defeat this week in an unusual speech that was leaked to media.
The revelation last week by senior Iranian General Behrouz Asbati in a closed-door address at the Vali El-Eliaser Mosque in Tehran published by the New York Times, has ignited a firestorm in Tehran.
Asbati left Syria on the last military plane to Tehran the night before the fall of the Assad regime.
“We were defeated, we were defeated badly; we suffered a fatal blow, and it is very difficult,” said the former commander of Iran’s Syrian operations, in reference to the fall of the Assad regime in Damascus.
The general said that former President Bashar al-Assad had rejected multiple military plans to use Iranian resources in Syria to attack Israel following the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacre.
Asbati also had harsh criticism of Russia, an Assad ally and Iranian partner, saying “the Russians turned off their radar and detection systems,” allowing Israel to attack Iranian military targets in Syria.
Nevertheless, the Iranian general said the IRGC is already working on rebooting its presence in Syrian territory, which for years provided a land corridor for the transfer of advanced weapons to its Lebanese proxy, the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
“We can activate all the networks we have worked on there over the years,” he said. “We can awaken all the social strata in which our people have lived for years. We can be active on social media, and we can establish resistance cells,” Asbati explained.
“We are already working there, as we do in other international arenas,” he said.
The Iranian general added that it is unlikely Iran will attempt to directly attack the State of Israel, at least for the time being.
“The situation now cannot realistically allow us to deal with another attack on Israel,” he said, but added that Iran had no need to worry: “Iran and its allies still have the upper hand throughout the region.”
Khamenei Works to Counter ‘Propaganda’
Barely a week after Asbati’s address, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a speech (Wednesday, Jan. 8) aimed at countering what he called “propaganda by the United States” while lionizing the Islamic Revolution and Iran’s military.
“In Gaza, they massacred tens of thousands of people, yet they could not eliminate Resistance with their (military) hardware. In Lebanon, they martyred a figure like Seyed Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders, but Hezbollah was not eradicated and will not be eradicated,” Khamenei said.
“The core of resistance lies in standing firm against the malicious actions of the Zionist regime,” Iran’s Supreme Leader proclaimed.
“We support the resistance in Gaza, the resistance in the West Bank, the resistance in Lebanon, the resistance in Yemen, and wherever they stand firmly and resist in confronting the malicious actions of the Zionist regime.”
IRGC Not in Sync with Tehran Government?
Nevertheless, Tehran-based analyst and Syria expert Mehdi Rahmati told NYT that Asbati’s speech was significant, because it showed the IRGC is not necessarily cooperating with Iranian government propaganda efforts.
“Everyone is talking about this speech and wondering why he said it,” Rahmati said. “He explicitly describes what happened to Iran and where things stand today,” in a manner that indicate trouble in the domestic political arena.
Assad was destined to fall due to the hardships faced by his people, the political repression and widespread corruption, Rahmati added. “It is hard to miss the similarities to the current state of affairs in Iran.”
