Special to WorldTribune.com

Public criticism of the Iranian regime has emerged on social media after several of Teheran’s top military commanders were killed in Syria.

One of Iran’s top generals, Hossein Hamedani, two colonels and at least nine other members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have been killed in the last two weeks as Iran has increased its support on the ground for Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“We shouldn’t lose our commanders so easily. This is a mistake that we also often made during the imposed war,” said one online post.

“The fact that our generals are being martyred shows that they are right in the middle of the battle,” another said on Instagram. The regime in Teheran had long insisted that its commanders were in Syria in an advisory capacity only.

Iran has long-time ties to the Syrian regime. Bashar Assad’s late father, former president Hafez Assad, backed Teheran against Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. Iran had provided Bashar Assad with military advisers, weaponry and other financial support since 2011 but has just recently sent troops in for ground operations.

While some Iranians on social media defended Iran’s efforts against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), many said the loss of the top IRGC commanders would be a huge factor should ISIL reach Iran’s borders.

Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, the IRGC’s deputy commander, said in an interview on state television on Oct. 26 that the commanders “must get to know the realities on the ground in order to be able to advise. They cannot sit in rooms and help the Syrian army.

“Our presence increased in quantity and quality. Our number of martyrs is not high, but compared to before it is more noticeable,” Salami said.

The fighters under IRGC command in Syria, estimated at several thousand, include Shi’ite Muslim volunteers, Afghans and Hizbullah terrorists.

Amir Mohebbian, a political adviser in Teheran with close ties to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime, said it is likely more Iranian troops will see battlefield action in Syria.

“It is possible,” he said. “Maybe Syrian troops and militias are enough, maybe not. If we are asked (by Assad) we will have no choice. We have to cut the legs of Daesh (ISIL).”

  Bashar Assad, Hossein Hamedani, IRGC, Online protest surfaces in Iran as war in Syria takes toll, WorldTribune.com