TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian semi-official news agency is quoting an official as saying that more than 1,000 fighters sent from Iran have been killed in the Syrian war so far.

It quotes Mohammad Ali Shahidi as saying "the number of martyred defenders of shrines ... has passed the number of 1,000."

Shahidi did not elaborate. In August, he was quoted as saying that there have been at least 400 members of Iranian brigades killed in Syria, half of them Afghan.

Some Afghan Shiites who live in Iran have been fighting alongside Iranians in Syria.

Shahidi runs the Martyr Foundation, which supports families of those killed in conflicts. His remarks were reported by the Tasnim agency on Tuesday.

Iran has provided military and political backing to President Bashar Assad in Syria's civil war.