Sun Apr 17, 2016 22:13:32
“One of the demands of the Syrian government from the Islamic Republic of Iran is to send military forces as advisors to render strategies and needed assistance to the army of that country; the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps sent these forces in the past years and the Iranian Ground Force was notified last week to dispatch some its forces as advisors to Syria as well,” General Pourdastan said on Sunday in an exclusive interview with Al-Alam News Network.
“Our presence in Syria is not in the form of army units and we have not sent (combat) units to Syria because we do not see Daesh (ISIS) as a major enemy; the ISIS is, rather, a small enemy doing some mischief in there,” he added.
General Pourdastan said the ongoing ceasefire in Syria is not actually a comprehensive working truce "because Daesh and al-Nusra Front terrorist groups are not included in the ceasefire and they still continue their mischiefs and movements in Southern and Northern Syria; therefore, the advisory mission of the Iranian forces in Syria will forcefully continue in all fields".
The top commander further underlined Russia's continued military presence in Syria, saying that despite partial troops' pullout from Syria that has taken place for some logistical reasons, Moscow will certainly continue its military role in the war-ravaged country.
The Russian army has only pulled out some of its troops from Syria, but its warplanes are still in the Arab country, General Pourdastan said, stressing that the Russian air force will continue backing the Syrian army in its missions against the Takfiri terrorists.
S/SH 11
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