IRGC chief: Without Hamedani the 2009 uprising would have been difficult, Damascus would have fallen and the regime’s fate would be left unknown
During the past few days after the death of senior Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) commander Hossein Hamedani in Syria, top Iranian regime figures are one after another unveiling the scope of the regime’s crimes in Syria and Hamedani’s role in the crackdown and massacre of the Iranian people and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, and also repressing the 2009 uprisings. These officials are also emphasizing the heavy blow Tehran has now suffered in Syria after Hamedani’s death.
“The formation of the Bassij, IRGC and Ansar al-Hossein Brigade are only a small portion of his services to the state. His efforts in establishing security in Tehran and other parts of the country, especially in 2009, led to the sedition’s defeat… if it were not for Hamedani’s judgment and management during the December 2009 uprisings, rounding up this sedition would have been much more difficult… he also played a significant role against the PMOI in the early years after the [1979] revolution,” said Revolutionary Guards chief Mohammad Ali Jafari at Hamedani’s funeral.
“Following the 2009 rebellion and after the sedition was defeated, he was always restive and voluntarily went to Syria. Syria is the frontlines of the Islamic revolution (read mullahs’ regime). Without Hamedani, Damascus and the entire Islamic revolution front would have fallen… and now the fate of the Islamic revolution would have been unknown,” Jafari added on Hamedani’s role in Syria. (State-run media – October 12)
Former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaie also referred to Hamedani’s role in Syria and the strategic importance of the Syrian dictator in maintaining the mullahs’ regime in power.
“It is clear why Hamedani was killed in Syria, so that insecurity would not reach Tehran. People should not ask why he was killed in Syria. Hamedani went to provide security for [Iran]… Hamedani participated in 80 operations in Syria. He launched Fort Hazrat Zeinab in Damascus and organized over 40 to 50,000 Syrians,” he said. (State-run media – October 11)
In the meantime, Khamenei resorted to his usual deception in justifying Hamedani’s death in Aleppo, hundreds of kilometers from Zeinabiya (in Damascus where the regime claims its proxies have gone to protect sacred religious sites), saying he was “killed defending the [religious] sanctums near Damascus.”
“If people like Hamedani don’t make a stand in Syria, insecurity and instability will reach our borders,” said Ali Shamkhani, head of the regime’s Supreme National Security Council, in remarks aimed at justifying the mullahs’ spending billions on maintaining the Bashar Assad regime in power.
“A large part of Hamedani’s services in strengthening the Syria axis cannot be made public,” said former IRGC chief Rahim Safavi.
Hassan Rouhani, the so-called moderate president of this regime, praised this killer of the Syrian people as a “valiant commander” and described his death for the mullahs’ regime as a “grave loss and deep anguish”.
Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of the regime’s Expediency Council, said Hamedani’s death is a major loss for the IRGC.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
October 12, 2015