Mapping the Deaths of Iranian Officers Across Syria

Iran is going through increasing pains to keep its Syrian ally President Bashar al-Assad afloat, with its rate of casualties reaching nearly one Iranian soldier per day for the month of October. Its losses include personnel of all military stripes, from little-known foot soldiers to high-ranking generals. October has been the bloodiest month for soldiers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It appears to mark an escalation in a conflict that has claimed the lives of at least 156 Iranian military personnel, 29 of them this last month.

Below is a map of the high cost Tehran is paying. It covers all known locations where ranking officers, and a few foot soldiers, have died in the last year, and it shows where Iran has invested — and lost — human capital. The information behind it was cross-referenced between media reports, experts in the United States, and sources in Iran, and the locations were determined with the help of War Reports, an Iranian research organization that has closely tracked the country’s involvement in Syria and Iraq.

Click on the orange dots below to pull up information on the officers’ roles and drag the mouse to explore other parts of the map.

BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images