On Jan. 24, the Saudi Al-Arabiya TV website, which is known to oppose the Syrian regime, published an unsigned memo dated Sept. 29, 2018 from the Syrian Army’s Division 1 command to its units in southern Syria instructing “friendly” forces, that is, Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who are fighting in the ranks of the Syrian army, to conceal their identities.
The forces were instructed to wear Syrian army uniforms, remove non-Syrian army flags and markings, not speak Farsi on communication networks or near Syrian citizens or foreign forces, refrain from using smartphone apps in Farsi, and present themselves as Syrian army officers or experts—not as Hezbollah or IRGC.
MEMRI has published several reports on the Iranian presence in southern Syria and on Iranians mingling with Syrian forces so as to conceal this presence.
See: Websites Opposed to the Syrian Regime: Iran Continues to Consolidate Its Presence in Southern Syria in Violation of Understandings Between Russia, Israel, Jordan and Contrary to the Understandings Reached With Russia, Iranian And Iran-Affiliated Forces Are Participating in the Fighting in Southern Syria.
