Abu Dhabi media yesterday described “regular clandestine flights between Tehran and Damascus” allegedly being conducted by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which transport among other things “fighters to help regime forces battle rebels”:

Up to three supply flights occur each week between the two cities, none of them appearing on public timetables, said the official, who has access to certain details of air traffic in and out of Damascus International Airport.

The flights typically take place at night, with no weekly schedule set in advance.

“There are private flights every week, sometimes three a week, and they are controlled by an Iranian officer in Damascus,” the Syrian official said.

Syrian opposition leaders have claimed that Iran has 60,000 fighters stationed in Syria, while Iran has flatly denied having any boots on the ground in the country. Though the opposition number is considered high, the revelation of clandestine flights will deepen skepticism regarding the categorical Iranian denials.

The report will also fuel growing doubts that newly inaugurated Iranian president Hassan Rouhani is willing or able to broadly moderate Iranian policies. Rouhani had already explicitly vowed to support the Bashar al-Assad regime – a commitment that aligns well with reports of continuing shipments from Iran to the regime – and had floated grand conspiracy theories regarding Western intentions toward Syria.

Rouhani has recently aligned his rhetoric with that of the Assad regime and with the Russia, arguing that the Syrian opposition is composed of “terrorists” who must be expelled from the country.

[Photo: TheRealNews / YouTube]