Russia’s entrance into the Syrian civil war in September began a large-scale offensive coordinated among Russia, the Syrian army, Hezbollah and Iranian forces against armed organizations opposed to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The number of Iranian casualties has since dramatically increased, and Western media have speculated about how long Tehran would continue to send what it calls “advisers” to the frontlines.

At a March 9 press conference, Amir Ali Haji-Zadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, rejected all notions about troop withdrawals. Haji-Zadeh said, “We are with the people of Syria, but the rate of our help to the government and people of Syria is based on the request of the government of Bashar al-Assad.” He added that there has been no suspension in deploying troops to Syria.

Haji-Zadeh called the press conference to discuss the IRGC’s highly publicized testing of ballistic missiles that day. According to Haji-Zadeh, the missiles were launched from the Alborz Mountains, in the north, and traveled approximately 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) to the southeast of the country. Haji-Zadeh, IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jaffari and deputy IRGC commander Hossein Salami were present at the launches, the second such tests in two days.

US officials have said they plan to respond to the missile tests. It is possible they will apply sanctions against individuals or companies working on Iran's ballistic missiles. UN Security Council Resolution 1929 (2010) prohibits Iran from activities involving ballistic missile technology.