Iranian regime cancels festivities due to numerous IRGC casualties in Syria

Dozens of members of the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who had been dispatched from Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, were killed or wounded in fighting around the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, May 6. Casualties also included dozens of Afghan mercenaries who had been recruited by Iran’s regime for the all-Afghan Fatemiyoun Division. Reports of these deaths sparked a wave of social protests in Mazandaran, in northern Iran.

According to the state-run daily newspaper Mardomsalari, 80 people have been killed in Khan Touman in northern Syria, most of who belonged to the Fayemiyoun Division and to the Lebanese Hezbollah which is backed by the Iranian regime. Furthermore, one of the centers used by the Iranian regime to dispatch fighters to Syria issued a preliminary report that found that 17 members of the Revolutionary Guards dispatched from that center alone had been killed. Many of the dead were from major cities in Mazandaran, including Babol, Amol, Sari, Qaemshahr and Chalous, National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported.

At least 21 other IRGC forces were injured and another six were captured. According to state media, two IRGC officers were among the dead.

The Iranian regime, fearful of a popular reaction, has banned all festivities and concerts in Mazandaran following reports of a high number of casualties in Syria.

Ahad Javdani, Director General of the regime’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Mazandaran, issued a directive referring to the large number of IRGC forces killed in Syria and said: “From today until further notice, all music performances, including concerts and programs of various organs or festivities, are cancelled. Therefore, it is fitting that all cultural-art institutions and all applicants for holding such programs are informed as quickly as possible.”

According to the official IRNA news agency, among the festivities that have been cancelled are the traditional Bahar-Narenj festival and Migration-of-Tribes festival. Moreover, some movie screenings were cancelled in local cinemas.

Meanwhile, reports indicate that some protests against the Iranian regime’s involvement in Syria have been staged by the families of IRGC members killed in fighting there. They have reportedly been joined by the families of other individuals who are believed to be in danger of being dispatched to the battlefield.

Iran’s regime has deployed tens of thousands of forces in Syria composed of the IRGC and its regular army, as well as foreign mercenaries from Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries.

Iranian Resistance officials have stated that the Iranian regime is strategically trapped in Syria and has failed to achieve any strategic objective to sustain Assad’s dictatorship, thereby compounding the effect of heavy losses on the morale of Iranian forces in Syria.

The battles last week were centered around the strategic town of Khan Tuman, south of Aleppo, which the Iranian regime had sought to capture as part of its plan to besiege Aleppo. Tehran’s forces were repulsed from the area, NCRI reported.