Iranian military commanders have responded to reports in Western media that their country’s presence in Syria has decreased due to a mounting death toll in recent months.

In an interview with Fars News Agency on Dec. 22, Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, the deputy head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was asked about “claims from Western media” regarding Iran’s decreasing deployment of forces in Syria. “Decreasing or increasing forces at any scene is a natural act,” Salami said. “But our strategy in this area and our roles in the battlefield and arena of politics have in no way been decreased.”

The question from Fars News was prompted by a Dec. 10 Bloomberg article titled “Western Officials: Iran Retreating From Syria Fight.” The article stated that due to the high level of casualties on the battlefront, US officials said they are seeing “significant numbers of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps troops retreat from the Syrian combat zone.”

In a Dec. 22 interview, Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff for the armed forces, also denied reports about Iran decreasing its role in Syria. Jazayeri said Iran’s support for Syria was based on a number of unchanging strategic and religious principles and “despite the false and unfounded news based on the exit or decrease of Iran’s advisory forces in Syria, which have been produced as part of the psychological war against the resistance front, our advisory presence will continue until an appropriate time in various dimensions and with the needs of the battlefront against takfiri terrorists in Syria.” Iranian military officials often refer to all Syrian opposition fighters as "takfiris," as in those who excommunicate other Muslims.