“Issawi is not the first Iraqi Shiite fighter thought to have died in Syria. But Iran’s alleged role in repatriating his body strengthens suggestions that Tehran is involved in coordinating the movement of foreign fighters to aid its embattled ally, Syria. Iran is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, and the United States suspects Tehran is using Iraqi airspace to shuttle weapons to Syria,” report added.
Last month the USCENTCOM sponsored website Al-Shorfa quoted the Iraqi Syrian border guard Col. Bassem Khalaf al-Obaidi that on March 28th, April 5th and April 9th, Iraqi security officials at al-Waleed border post received the bodies of seven young Iraqis between 17 and 30 years old, “who were all killed in fighting inside Syria.”
“Their passports show they had officially left [Iraq] for Iran, not Syria, and there is a missing link between when they left for Iran and when their bodies arrived in Iraq from Syria,” he said.
“We have information indicating there are training camps in Iran close to the Iraqi borders, devoted to graduating fighters to send to Syria,” al-Obaidi said.