Iran has started to evacuate some of its diplomats and military advisers from Syria. This was reported by The New York Times on Friday, citing sources.
It is believed that some soldiers of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, elite units of the Armed Forces) have already been evacuated to Iraq and Lebanon. On December 2, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic, Esmail Baghai, said that Iranian military advisors will continue to be in Syria and provide assistance to Damascus in the fight against terrorists.
The New York Times' sources also claim that some Iranian diplomatic staff and their family members, as well as ordinary Iranian citizens, have left Syria. Some of the people were sent by plane to Tehran, and the other part was sent by land to Lebanon, Iraq and the Syrian port of Latakia.
