Thousands of people attended funerals on Thursday of eight Iranian citizens killed in clashes in Syria, calling into question the government’s claim that it has not sent any combatants to support the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Iranian officials claim that those who died were “volunteers” rather than government-backed soldiers, and that Iranian military personnel in Syria serve only an advisory purpose. Syrian rebels claim that Iran has, in fact, sent thousands of troops to aid Assad, Syria’s Iranian-backed dictator, in the civil war he was waging to maintain his hold on power. The rebel allegation is supported by a report in the Jordanian newspaper Al-Bawaba  of a surge of 15,000 Iranian troops in Syria this month, following a pledge by Iranian Revolutionary Guards-Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani that “the world will be surprised by what we and the Syrian military leadership are preparing for the coming days.”

Iran has a long history of supporting Assad in the civil war that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. The Wall Street Journal reported two years ago that Iran had become the center for recruiting Shiites from all around the Middle East to fight in Syria. It has been reported in recent months that Iran has recruited thousands of Afgan refugees to fight for the Assad regime. Scholars such as Jonathan Spyer of the Rubin Center have argued that Iran’s support is what is keeping Assad in power.

[Photo: Sharif Behruz / YouTube ]