Israel Matzav

48 Iranians being held by Free Syrian Army

This is rich. 48 Iranians come to Syria as guests of the Assad regime, ostensibly on a 'pilgrimage,' but probably as spies on Assad's and Ahmadinejad's behalf. They are proven to be 'connected' to Iran's Revolutionary Guards. They are arrested by the Free Syrian Army. And the fun begins.

The kidnapped 48 men traveled to Damascus on Saturday as part of a large contingent on a trip organized by a Revolutionary Guard Corps travel agency, according to people familiar with the trip.

They packed into six buses from the airport and traveled on the highway to their destination, Hotel Al-Faradis in downtown Damascus, when the last bus in the convoy was stopped at an opposition rebel checkpoint and abducted, according to a person involved in the planning of the trip.

"Everyone on this trip was either a Guard or a Basij militia. This wasn't a regular tour group," said an employee of the tour agency that organized the trip, reached by telephone. Agency officials could not be reached.

The reason for their journey, at the height of one of the most violent periods in Syria, is not clear. But the people familiar with the trip said the men were active members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, on a mission to train Syrian forces in counterinsurgency methods as its armed forces fight a decisive battle in Aleppo.

That would represent the strongest suggestion of Iran's involvement in Syria's 17-month uprising and could further dig Iran into isolation in the region, fueled by anger among its Arab neighbors for its support of President Bashar al-Assad.

Samen Al Aemmeh, the tour operating company, is not open to the Iranian public and solely caters to members and families of Guards or the plainclothes Basij militia. The company is also a subsidiary of Samen Al Aemmeh Industries, one of IRGC's largest umbrella groups, which has been sanctioned under United Nations Security Council resolutions and by the U.S. Treasury for its role in missile building and Iran's nuclear program.

Read the whole thing. It's a pity that the Free Syrian Army is not a whole lot better than Assad. I'd love to see them start killing off those 'innocent' Iranians one at a time unless Assad stops shooting and lets the civilians go.

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Iran, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Syrian uprising

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:30 AM