Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has been making the media rounds lately, giving interviews about the latest developments in Syria, Iranian-Arab relations and the status of Iran’s removal of centrifuges under its nuclear deal with six world powers.

In his latest interview, the former defense minister under Reformist President Mohammad Khatami spoke Nov. 11 to the Iran-funded Arabic news channel Al-Alam. Shamkhani said the rising death toll in Syria of Iranian soldiers, which he referred to as "advisers," is due to the increasing number of battles taking place. In late September, Russian planes began assisting the Syrian army on the ground in large-scale offensives to retake land in Aleppo and other parts of the country.

Shamkhani put the number of Iranians killed in recent battles at “under 50.” Despite the relatively high death toll, Iranian officials have shown no signs of changing policy. 

“The primary goal is to free the Syrian people from the claws of terrorists, and this will continue in whatever form until the correct outcome is reached,” Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Nov. 11.