ALEPPO, Syria — Iranian forces and their allied militias in Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria have recently carried out new redeployment and repositioning operations to limit their losses in the event of Israeli airstrikes against their sites in the area. Their action included moving to new military sites and headquarters, hiding weapons and removing flags from the roofs of military sites and barracks as well as relying more on local members to guard military sites. Some armed formations also partially withdrew from their sites, while the families of members were transferred to other areas.

The biggest challenge facing the Iranian forces now is to maintain their cohesion in Deir ez-Zor and its countryside, as the violent suspected Israeli bombing that targeted their sites on Jan. 13 has pushed many members to flee their headquarters and military sites. This prompted the Iranian forces to intensify patrols in search of defectors - primarily Syrian nationals who had been working with the Iranian-backed groups - and arrest local members who did not join the military barracks after the airstrikes ended. 

Meanwhile, other members were accused of helping a group of officers to defect. What most worries the Iranian forces in Deir ez-Zor seems to be the increasing flow of defectors toward armed formations supported by Russia in the area, most notably the Fifth Corps, which officially announced its establishment on Nov. 22, 2016.

Firas Allawi, journalist and editor-in-chief of Alsharq News Network, which monitors news in Deir ez-Zor and eastern Syria, told Al-Monitor, “Dozens of members of the Iranian formations from Deir ez-Zor province left their sites after the Jan. 13 airstrikes, many of whom have chosen to join the Fifth Corps.”