1,000 Iranian troops killed in Syria fighting: Official

By Rasha Khalaf

TEHRAN

More than 1,000 Iranian fighters have been killed in Syria since Tehran began its intervention in the country to support the Assad regime five years ago, an Iranian official announced Tuesday.

"The total number of casualties sustained so far now exceeds 1,000," Mohamed Ali Shahidi Mahallati, the director of Iran’s Foundation for Martyrs and Veterans’ Affairs, which provides financial support for the families of slain Iranian fighters, was quoted as saying by Iran’s semi-official Tasneem press agency.

The number of fighters slain in Syria given by Mahallati represents a notable increase on those given four months ago, when Iranian officials put the number at 400.

Shia Iran is a staunch supporter of the Assad regime, which has been fighting heavily-armed opposition groups since the eruption in Syria of anti-regime demonstrations in early 2011.

For the past five years, Iranian soldiers, along with members of Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah group, have been fighting alongside regime forces in Syria.