The deputy head of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ military college has denied that the notorious military organization has any training bases in other countries.

General Ahmad Mehraban in an interview published on Tuesday in Tasnim news agency, while denying training bases, acknowledged that “popular volunteer forces” in Middle Eastern countries, such as Iraq’s Hashd Al-Sha’abi, have been training under the supervision of IRGC officers.

In his interview, Mehraban mentioned that his reason for denying the existence of training bases, is recent reports in Israeli media, without naming any specific outlets.

Iran and the IRGC have always maintained that their long presence in the Syrian conflict is a military advisory role, also related to providing training.

It is estimated that more than 2,000 Iranian deployed troops have been killed in Syria. In addition to Iranian citizens, IRGC also trains, equips and pays Afghan, Iraqi and other Shiites to fight in Syria to protect Bashar Al-Assad’s government.

Funeral ceremonies for many Iranian and non-Iranian war dead have been publicly held in Iran. Afghans who fight in Syria receive Iranian citizenship and social benefits, which is coveted by millions of Afghan citizens living in Iran.