Senior IRGC Commander Kiomars Pourhashemi Killed in Syria

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Thursday that Brigadier General Kiomars Pourhashemi, a senior military adviser, was killed during an attack by armed opposition groups in Syria’s Aleppo.

The IRGC statement identified Pourhashemi as one of the “Defenders of the Shrine” and reported that he was killed in an attack attributed to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

The attack, which happened Wednesday night, reportedly resulted in dozens of deaths.

Tehran-backed militias and Russian forces support President Bashar Assad. At the same time, Turkey backs the rebels in the last opposition stronghold, and a small number of U.S. troops in eastern Syria focus on fighting ISIS.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the militant group ruling the north-western Syrian region, claimed responsibility for the attack. They claimed it was in retaliation for increased Russian and Syrian airstrikes on civilian areas in southern Idlib.

The group is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and several other countries.

In recent years, the IRGC has been involved in supporting the Syrian government and fighting opposition groups. Senior IRGC commanders like Pourhashemi have frequently been targeted.

Syrian Islamist rebels have launched their largest offensive in years against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, capturing at least 15 villages and killing a senior Iranian commander as they advanced toward Aleppo.

This marks the first significant challenge in four years to Assad and his key allies, Russia and Iran.

The militants pushed eastward from Idlib, the last major opposition stronghold, which has remained in a stalemate since a ceasefire brokered by Moscow and Ankara in 2020.