New information reveals that a commander in the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed by a Syrian officer serving in the army of embattled leader Bashar al-Assad in late November.
Iranian state media had previously attributed Kiumars Pourhashemi’s death to Assad's armed opposition forces.
On Sunday, December 22, the Chinese state-run CGTN's correspondent in Ankara reported, citing an Iranian security official, that Pourhashemi died after being shot by a Syrian officer during a meeting in a joint operations room in Aleppo.
According to the report by Yakup Aslan, the meeting included Iranian military advisors and Syrian army commanders and took place amid advances by rebel forces in the outskirts of Aleppo.
Earlier, on November 28, Iranian media had reported that Pourhashemi, also known as "Haj Hashem," was killed during attacks by Assad's opposition forces in Aleppo. The outlets referred to him as a senior advisor to Assad’s forces.
Aslan, a Turkish journalist whose reports are frequently cited by Turkish media, added in his report that IRGC commanders in the Aleppo operations room were pressuring Syrian army commanders to resist Assad's opponents and repel their attacks.
The report noted that IRGC commanders believed a counteroffensive against Assad’s opposition, supported by Russian airpower, was possible at the time. However, Syrian commanders hesitated to issue the necessary orders.
The Turkish journalist described the atmosphere in the Aleppo joint operations room as "tense." He added that during the meeting, "a Syrian general entered the room and opened fire," resulting in Pourhashemi’s death.
He characterized the incident as a reflection of "the deep collapse within the Syrian army" following the advances made by Assad’s opposition forces.
Armed opposition forces, in a surprise 11-day operation that began in Idlib and Aleppo, reached Damascus on December 9, bringing an end to five decades of Assad family rule in Syria.
Aslan quoted an Islamic Republic security official saying that the shooter who killed Pourhashemi belonged to a tribe that had withdrawn its support for Assad.
The official added that two months earlier, the Islamic Republic had provided the Syrian government with information and documents about the Syrian officer's connections to groups opposing Assad.
Tehran was one of Assad’s primary backers. Previously, two former members of Iran's parliament separately confirmed that the Iranian government spent at least $30 billion to keep Assad in power. By other estimates, Iran has spent upwards of $50 billion in the Syrian civil war.
On December 22, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed to reclaim Syria from Assad’s successors and urged the nation’s youth to resist the newly established government.
Observers view the recent developments in Syria as a blow to the Islamic Republic’s regional influence, believing that the end of Assad’s rule will shift the balance of power in the Middle East.
Barbara Leaf, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, emphasized on December 20, in response to an Iran International reporter's question, that the Islamic Republic should have no role in Syria’s future.