Iranian general accidentally reveals troops in Syria

WASHINGTON – An Iranian general made a major mistake by conceding Shiite Iran has military forces in Syria fighting to preserve the embattled government of Shiite Alawite President Bashar al-Assad.

Gen. Hossein Hamedani, a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, or IRGC, commented in a speech that the Islamic republic is militarily involved in Syria.

The problem is Tehran has repeatedly denied that Iranian combat forces are fighting alongside Syrian troops in a three-year civil war in which more than 140,000 Syrians have been killed.

Until now, Iranian officials claimed that Tehran was providing only humanitarian, economic and technical help to Syria.

At a news conference in 2012, however, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the IRGC, had acknowledged Iran had a military presence in Syria but was only providing non-military assistance.

"A number of members of the Quds Force (IRGC) are present in Syria, but this does not constitute a military presence," Jafari said at the time.

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