Despite Iran's allied militias facing major losses across the region, the IRGC's commander spoke of their victory, while implying that Iran does provide weapons to its armed allies in the Middle East.
Hossein Salami on Monday channeled remarks by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s comments from the previous day asserting that Iran does not operate a proxy network in the region but rather has ideological allies.
“The enemies aim to burden the Iranian people with events that are far from victories and claim that Iran has lost its regional allies," Salami said.
“Iran has not lost its arms [in the region]—are the sons of Lebanon not still standing? Has Palestine surrendered? We share the same ideals, beliefs, and convictions with the Lebanese and Yemenis.”
Huge swathes of Hezbollah's leadership and military infrastructure, as well as its operatives, have been wiped out since September, including assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Reiterating a statement made on Sunday by the Supreme Leader, the commander also denied that Iran supported arming the groups, which include the Houthis in Yemen and Shia militias in Syria and Iraq.
"Everyone fights with their own capabilities; no one relies on anyone else. While we provide maximum spiritual and political support to the resistance front, they procure their own weapons just as we do," he said.
Just four days ago, the US issued more sanctions against Iran for what it called "support of proxies", referring to armed groups it deems terrorists such as the Houthis in Yemen.
It dates back years. In 2018, the US said that "In Iraq, credible reports indicate that Iran is transferring ballistic missiles to Shia militia groups. This comes as these militias carried out highly provocative attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Baghdad and Basra in September, which we know that Iran did nothing to stop."
Since the collapse of Tehran’s ally, Bashar al-Assad, in Syria earlier this month, Tehran is scrambling to explain the loss, which many see as a strategic defeat.
In a speech on Sunday, Khamenei attempted to downplay the weakening and defeats of Tehran’s regional allies and proxies. "They constantly say that the Islamic Republic has lost its proxy forces in the region! This is another mistake! The Islamic Republic does not have proxy forces. Yemen fights because of its faith; Hezbollah fights because its faith gives it strength to fight; Hamas and Jihad fight because their beliefs compel them to do so."
Iran has invested tens of billions of dollars and thousands of forces into Syria for years, with bases across the country and a heavy military presence. Iranian officials have acknowledged that Tehran has spent at least $50 billion in Syria sine 2011, when it began to send military advisers and, later, a mix of Iranian forces along with Afghan, Pakistani and Iraqi militias to defend Assad’s embattled rule.
At the end of his remarks, Salami once again denied arming the Palestinian group in Gaza, Hamas, despite multiple reports over the years of training, funding and weapons provision.
In January, the Associated Press published an investigation of more than 150 videos and photos taken in the three months of combat since Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, showing the militant group had amassed a diverse patchwork arsenal of weapons from around the world, including Iranian sniper rifles.
After October 7, the Israeli military recovered Iranian-made AZ111 mortar round fuses and M112 demolition charges which it said were used in the invasion which led to the deaths of at least 1,100.
As far back as 2014's Gaza war, the Israeli military has been intercepting weapons smuggled from Iran.
One shipment contained 40 long-range M-302 rockets, 181 mortar shells, and approximately 400,000 7.62 caliber rounds.
“Palestine is alive; have they surrendered? They are still fighting. The pillars of the resistance act based on their own motivations, and everyone fights with their own capabilities, relying on no one. We support the resistance front, but they produce their own weapons.”
Just before the October 7 attacks, hundreds of Hamas militia had traveled to Iran for combat training, according to intelligence seen by the Wall Street Journal. The report said around 500 had had been led by officers of the Quds Force.
