Iran to support Assad massacres 'as long as necessary'

The head of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps announced on Tuesday that Iran will be willing to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for "as long as it is necessary."

Iranian Fars News Agency quoted Mohammad Pakpour saying the IRGC ground forces will continue to support the Assad regime for “as long as they require assistance.”

He justified Iranian boots in Syria by emphasising that IRGC do not only assist the Syrian army in its planning, but also on its “battle techniques and tactics".

"And because of this the forces have to be present on the battlefield."

He had also hailed the “closeness” between the Syrian army and the IRGC, adding the co-ordination between the two will persist.

The Syrian conflict began when the Baath regime, in power since 1963 and led by Assad, responded with military force to peaceful protests demanding democratic reforms during the Arab Spring wave of uprisings, triggering an armed rebellion fuelled by mass defections from the Syrian army.

According to independent monitors, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in the war, mostly by the regime and its powerful allies, and millions have been displaced both inside and outside of Syria. 

The brutal tactics pursued mainly by the regime, which have included the use of chemical weapons, sieges, mass executions and torture against civilians have led to war crimes investigations.