August 06, 2021
Syrians recruited to fight in Iranian-officered military units have reportedly been deserting in droves as a result of Israel’s bombing of their bases in January.
The Pasdaran are said to have sent out patrols to corner and arrest the deserters to prevent their units from dissolving.
Al-Monitor reported on the troubles the Pasdaran are facing . The publication also said Iranian forces and the units they command in Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria have been repositioning to limit their losses in the event of more Israeli airstrikes.
These actions include moving to new military sites, hiding weapons and removing flags from the roofs of barracks, as well as relying more on local members to guard military sites. Some armed formations also withdrew partially from their bases, while the families of members were transferred to other areas.
The biggest challenge facing the Iranian forces now, said Al-Monitor, is to maintain their cohesion in Deir ez-Zor and its countryside, as the Israeli bombing that targeted their sites on January 13 pushed many members to flee. This prompted the Iranian forces to intensify patrols in search of defectors–primarily Syrian nationals who had been working with the Iranian-backed groups and arrest local members who did not re-join their barracks after the airstrikes ended.
Al-Monitor also said some members were accused of helping a group of officers to defect. What most worries the Iranian forces in Deir ez-Zor seems to be the increasing flow of defectors to armed formations supported by Russia, most notably the Fifth Corps, which officially announced its establishment in November 2016.
Firas Allawi, a journalist and editor-in-chief of Alsharq News Network, which monitors news in Deir ez-Zor and eastern Syria, told Al-Monitor, “Dozens of members of the Iranian formations from Deir ez-Zor province left their sites after the January 13 airstrikes, many of whom have chosen to join the Fifth Corps.”
Allawi added, “The Iranian forces are intensifying patrols in search of defectors across Deir ez-Zor province to limit [defections] that worry the leadership of the Iranian forces and directly affect its influence. They have already arrested dozens of fleeing operatives and some of them have been charged with inciting their colleagues to leave the ranks of the Iranian formations.”
Al-Monitor said, “It seems that Russia will benefit from the presumed weakness that the Iranian forces are experiencing in Deir ez-Zor.” The Russian-backed Fifth Corps seems to have become the go-to faction for these defectors. This may be an opportunity for Russia to expand at the expense of the Iranian forces in the province.
Political science researcher Mohammed Adeeb, who lives in the countryside near Aleppo, told Al-Monitor, “The Iranian-Russian competition in Deir ez-Zor is constantly escalating, and it is natural for Russia to take advantage of the state of weakness that Iranian forces are going through.”