| That is to say, they were on Iran's payroll and were at least nominally Shiite. |
"Some 2,100 deaders have been martyred so far in Iraq or other places defending the holy mausoleums," Mohammad Ali Shahidi told the state-run IRNA news agency.
Shahidi, who is head of Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, was speaking at a conference on martyrdom culture in Tehran.
The figure was more than double the number he gave in November, which referred only to Syria.
Iran is, with Russia, the main military backer of Syrian
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
, and also organizes militias fighting the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group in Iraq.
Shahidi did not provide details on the nationalities of those killed.
Iran oversees "volunteer" fighters recruited from among its own nationals as well as Shiite communities in neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistain.
The families of those killed in battle are given Iranian citizenship under a law passed last May.
Tehran refers to the fighters as "defenders of the shrines" -- a reference to Shiite holy sites in Iraq and Syria that have been targeted by Sunni holy warriors.