Iran’s abandoned bases in Syria: Years of military expansion in Ruen lies

Half -half -food, military uniforms molded on the bunk bed and left the weapons – these are a sudden remaining remains from the base that once belonged to Iran and its affiliated groups in Syria.

The scene tells the story of nervousness. The forces stationed here ran away with a little warning, out of a decade to leave the long appearance which was launched in just weeks.

Iran was the most important partner of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for more than 10 years. It deployed military advisors, collected foreign militia, and invested heavily in the Syrian war.

Its aristocratic Islamic revolutionary guard corps (IRGC) built deep networks of underground bases, supplying weapons and training to thousands of fighters. For Iran, it was also part of its “security belt” against Israel.

We are near the city of Khan Shayakhun in Idlib province. Asad’s rule before falling on 8 December, it was one of the major strategic places for the IRGC and its affiliated groups.

From the main road, the entrance is barely visible, hidden behind a pile of sand and rocks. A watchtower on a hill, which is still painted in the colors of the Iranian flag, sees the base.

A receipt confirms the name of the notebook base: the status of Shaheed Zahedi – named after Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top IRGC commander, who was assassinated on April 1, 2024, an alleged Israeli at Iran’s consulate in Syria. Was done in an airstrike.

Supply recently ordered – we found receipts for chocolate, rice, cooking oil – suggestions daily life and continued. But now Aadhaar is going to be new to Aadhaar-two armed Uyghur fighters of Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Islamist terrorist group whose leader Ahmed al-show has become the new interim President of Syria.

Uyghurs suddenly arrived in a military vehicle, asking for our media recognition.

“Iranians were here. They all fled,” one of them says, speaking in his mother tongue, a dialect of Türkiye. “Everything you see here is from them. Even these onions and leftover foods.”

Boxes filled with fresh onion in the courtyard have now sprouted.

The base is a maze of deep tunnels in the white rocky hills. Some rooms have bed beds without windows. The roof of one of the corridors is wrapped in cloth in the colors of the Iranian flag and there are some Persian books on a rocky shelf.

He left behind the documents with sensitive information. In all Persian, they have personal information of fighters in Iran, codes of military personnel, home addresses, husband -wife names and mobile phone numbers. From the names, it is clear that many fighters of this base were from the Afghan Brigade which were formed by Iran to fight in Syria.

Sources associated with Iran -backed groups told BBC Persian that the base house is mainly with Afghan forces with Iranian “military advisors” and their Iranian commanders.

Tehran’s main justification for its military partnership in Syria was to protect “Shia Holy Temples” against fundamentalist Sunni terrorists.

It mainly formed paramilitary groups of Afghan, Pakistani and Iraqi fighters.

Nevertheless, when the last moment came, Iran was unprepared. Retreat orders reached some locations in the last moment. “The events happened so fast,” a senior member of the Iran -backed Iraqi paramilitary group told me. “The order was just to take and leave your backpack.”

Several sources close to the IRGC told the BBC that most forces had to flee to Iraq, and some were ordered by Russians to go from Syria to Lebanon or Russian bases.

An HTS fighter, Mohammad Al Rabbat, saw the progress of the group from Idlib to Aleppo and Syria’s capital Damascus.

He says he felt that his operation would be “about a year” and best, “he would capture Aleppo in three to six months”. But to his surprise, he entered Aleppo in a few days.

The rapid collapse of governance was brought by a series of events after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.

The attack led to an increase in Israeli aerial attacks against IRGC and Iran-backed groups in Syria and a war against another major Iranian ally-Labanani terrorist group Hizbullah, whose leader was killed in an airstrike.

This “psychological fall” for Iran and Hizbullah was central for their downfall, 35 -year -old fighter Rabbat.

But the most important shock came from within: there was a rift between Assad and his colleagues associated with Iran, they say.

“There was a complete rupture of trust and military cooperation among them. IRGC-Linked Group was blaming Assad for betrayal and believing that he was giving Israel his place.”

As soon as we pass through Khan Shayakhun, we come on a road painted in the colors of the Iranian flag. It leads to a school building which was being used as the Iranian headquarters.

On the wall at the entrance of the toilet, read slogans: “Down with Israel” and “Down with the USA”.

It was clear that these headquarters were also taken out on low information. We found documents classified as “highly sensitive”.

65 -year -old Abdullah, and his family are among the very few local people who lived here with IRGC -led groups and lived here. He says that this life was difficult.

Their house is only a few meters from the headquarters and in the middle, there are deep trenches with prickly wire.

“The movement was prohibited at night,” he says.

His neighbor’s house was converted into a military post. “They sit there pointing on the road with their guns, considering all of us as suspicious,” he remembers.

Most fighters did not even speak Arabic, they say. “He was Afghan, Iranians, Hizbullah. But we referred to them all as Iranians because Iran was controlling them.”

Abdullah’s wife Jersey says she is happy that she has left the “Iranian militia”, but still remember the “stressful” moment before her return. He thought he would be trapped in the crossfire as Iran -backed groups were strengthening their positions and getting ready to fight, but then “they disappeared in just a few hours”.

“It was a business. Iranian business,” says Abdo, who, like others, returned here with his family after 10 years. His house also became a military base.

I saw this anger towards Iran and a soft attitude towards Russia in several conversations with the Syrians.

I asked Rabbat, HTS fighter, why it was.

He said, “Russians were dropping bombs from the sky and in addition, they were in their bases, while Iran and their militia were talking on the ground. People were feeling their presence, and many people were not happy with it. ,” he explained.

This feeling is reflected in the policy of new Syrian rulers towards Iran.

New officials have banned Iranian citizens along with Israel, entering Syria. But there is no such restriction against the Russians.

The Embassy of Iran, which came after the fall of governance, remained closed by anger by angry protesters.

The response of Iranian officials to the developments in Syria has been contradictory.

While supreme leader Ali Khamenei called “Syrian youth” to “protest”, who “brought instability” in Syria, Iran’s Foreign Ministry has taken a more balanced approach.

It says that the country “supports any government supported by the Syrian people”.

In his first interview, Syrian leader Shara described his victory over Assad as “End of Iranian project”. But he has not denied having a “balanced” relationship with Tehran.

At the moment, Iran is not welcome to Syria. After years of expanding their military appearance, whatever Tehran has created is now ruined, both in the battlefield and, it seems, in the eyes of a large part of the people of Syria.

Back on abandoned basis, Iran’s military expansion was still going on in the last days. There were more tunnels under construction next to the camp, obviously a field hospital started. Cement on the walls was still wet and the paint was fresh.

But now there is proof of a brief battle left behind – some bullet shells and a military uniform that is covered with blood.