Controversy Over Payment of Salaries to Iran’s Proxy Forces in Syria
The admission by the head of the Foundation for the Oppressed in a television program regarding the payment of salaries to tens of thousands of proxy forces of the Islamic Republic in Syria has become sensitive. The Shargh newspaper has criticized this action by the head of the Foundation for the Oppressed.
Parviz Fatah, head of the Foundation for the Oppressed, said in a program on Islamic Republic state television that when he was the CEO of the Sepah Cooperative Foundation, Qasem Soleimani came to him asking for help with paying the salaries of Fatemiyoun in Syria.
Fatah said: “I was at the Sepah Cooperative Foundation, Haj Qasem came and told me he didn’t have money to pay the Fatemiyoun salaries, help me in Syria! It means the situation reached a point where Haj Qasem Soleimani couldn’t pay his forces’ salaries. He would say these are our Afghan brothers and they were reaching out their hands in need to people like us.”
The statements of the head of the Foundation for the Oppressed on state radio and television had widespread echoes on social networks. Government-affiliated media remained silent about it, but the non-governmental newspaper “Shargh” criticized Parviz Fatah for why he publicly addressed such a topic and said something that shouldn’t have been said!
Shargh newspaper wrote in its Saturday, September 7 edition: “The head of the Foundation for the Oppressed lacks the necessary wisdom to appear in a television program. He quickly becomes angry and shows reactions similar to his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or says things that shouldn’t be said.”
Shargh continued: “Fatah’s strange remarks, despite such circumstances, faced the silence of his principalist domestic supporters, and even newspapers such as Kayhan remained silent and chose silence on this matter.” This is while according to Shargh, “principalist media attacked Hassan Rouhani when he spoke about the country’s empty treasury and accused the president of giving to the enemy.”
Shargh wrote about the silence of government-affiliated media on this matter: “Kayhan and aligned media preferred to maintain a policy of silence in response to the statements of the head of the Foundation for the Oppressed, and if there was a need for warning, apparently they didn’t deem it expedient to broadcast it on the trumpet and horn contrary to the warning to the presidency!”
Fatemiyoun Legion
Fatemiyoun Legion is a paramilitary force affiliated with the Quds Force and composed of Shiite Afghans. Its members are mostly Afghan Shiites residing in Iran. The majority of these forces were recruited by the Quds Force in exchange for receiving residency permits, identification documents, and monthly salaries.
Most of the Iranian forces killed in Syria’s civil war are also from this Fatemiyoun Legion. They are buried in Iran and the members of their families are also under the coverage and support of the Martyrs Foundation. Iranian media refer to the Islamic Republic’s proxy forces in Syria, who fight to preserve the Bashar al-Assad regime, as “Haram defenders.”
Source: DW
