When the website for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei published photos of a meeting with the families of Iranian soldiers who died fighting in Syria and Iraq, the pictures were shared widely online. The most striking pictures were of a young boy in a red shirt hugging Khamenei and another of the same boy holding up over his head a picture of his father who had been martyred in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq. While the pictures were published Feb. 6, according to Khamenei’s website, the meeting took place nearly one year ago.

It is not clear why the meeting was advertised and made public nearly one year after the fact. But in the face of a rising death toll, there appears to be a push by Iranian leaders to justify its presence in Syria and Iraq. The latest issue of The Line of Hezbollah, a publication dedicated to analyzing the speeches and comments of Khamenei, quoted previously unpublished comments by Khamenei “to the families of martyrs” in Syria and Iraq.

Khamenei reportedly said at the meeting, “They went to fight the enemy and if they did not fight, this enemy would be inside the country. … If they were not stopped, we would have to fight them in Kermanshah and Hamedan [provinces in western Iran].” While Iranians who fight in Syria and Iraq are referred to as “defenders of the shrine,” Khamenei said that they are also defending Iran.

Other officials have also previously offered the argument that Iran must fight terrorists in Syria so that it does not have to fight them in Iran. When Russia entered the Syrian civil war in October 2015 to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian and Syrian fighters on the ground supported the Russian air campaign. While the joint Russian, Iranian and Syrian campaign has successfully pushed back the Syrian opposition, Iranian casualties have also increased dramatically in comparison to previous years. This may explain why Iranian officials have been praising and highlighting the efforts of the fighters in Syria.