A Foreign Ministry source denied recent reports that Iran has dispatched troops to Syria as a “diversionary” attempt to deflect and distract attention from the backing western powers and their regional allies are giving to terrorist/extremist groups in the war-torn Arab country.
“Iran’s role in the Syrian conflict is still confined to providing military advice to the government forces,” the source told Fars News Agency Friday on the condition that he not be identified.
The source added that “Iran is in Syria to offer [military] advise and help that country fight terror. The propaganda campaign, waged to spread rumors about Iran’s increased involvement in Syria, is a diversionary tactic adopted by western countries and their regional allies to cover up their all-out support for terrorist and takfiri groups by supplying money, arms and intelligence to them.”
A takfiri is a Muslim who accuses followers of other faiths and some Islamic sects of being unbelievers. The Washington Post quoted an unidentified senior US defense official as claiming on Wednesday that Tehran has dramatically increased its involvement in Syria’s civil war, with hundreds of Iranian soldiers having massed in northern Syria, poised to back Syrian forces in a ground offensive under cover of Russian airstrikes.
Russia began its air campaign Sept. 30 and says it is meant to weaken the Islamic State group and other terrorists in Syria, but western officials and Syrian rebels say most of the strikes have focused on central and northern Syria, where the extremist group does not have a strong presence.
