A reporter for the Syrian news network operating in the east of the country - "Media River" said that six buses entered Monday afternoon from Iraq to the al-Hari area near the city of al-Bukmal, east of Deir a-Zour.
The reporter added that the buses carried elements of the "Sayyid al-Shuhada" militia (all of whom have Iraqi citizenship), which is subordinate to the parent organization The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and transferred them to the al-Qa'im area inside Iraq.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard replaced them with local civilians (most of them from the town of Hatla) who were stationed at the "Sayyid al-Shuhada" militia headquarters.
Iran has been working for almost a month to expel Iraqi fighters from Deir a-Zour to the Iraqi al-Qa'im area, replacing them with Syrian civilians from the area.
Iran is apparently preparing for the day when it will be required to expel all the foreign forces it has brought into Syrian territory before signing any agreement with the United States and Western countries.
Iran is operating under a master plan aimed at maintaining control over all of eastern Syria, especially in areas near the Iraqi border, in order to establish the security of the land bridge between Tehran and Beirut.