Iran general did 80 missions in Syria, mourners told

TEHRAN – Agence France-Presse

REUTERS photo

An Iranian general killed in the Syrian city of Aleppo had taken part in 80 missions in the war-torn country, mourners were told at his funeral in Tehran on Oct. 11.

Hossein Hamedani of the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guards Corps became its highest-profile casualty of the effort to shore up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when he died Oct. 8.

He had been involved for four years in Iran’s operations in Syria, creating national defense forces for Assad, a fellow general and former chief commander of the Guards said in Tehran.

“Our security is not confined to our borders, it is related to the entire region. Hamedani was martyred in Syria so that insecurity does not reach Tehran,” General Mohsen Rezaie, who recently came out of retirement to rejoin the military, said in tribute.

Hamedani was killed by “Daesh terrorists” he added, using the Arabic acronym to refer to jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that swept much of Syria and Iraq last year, since holding ground.  

Thousands attended Hamedani’s ceremony. He will be buried in Hamedan, his home city, on Oct. 12.