Istanbul ( CNN ) -- Thousands of mostly Syrian prisoners were exchanged Wednesday for a few dozen Iranians in Damascus , a Turkish charity said . The Syrian government released 2,130 civilians , 76 of them women , in exchange for the release of 48 Iranians who had been held by Syrian rebels , said Huseyin Oruc , deputy president of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation in Turkey . Iran has backed the Syria government during the nearly two-year war that has pitted rebels against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad . Iran 's semi-official news agency FARS reported Wednesday that the released Iranians were pilgrims who had been `` abducted by terrorists in Syria in August . '' Al-Assad and Iran routinely refer to Syrian rebels as foreign-backed militants or terrorists . The exchange took place after a speech delivered Sunday by al-Assad in which he vowed to continue to push back against the rebels . `` It 's a huge victory for us , '' said Louai al Miqdad , a political and media coordinator for the Free Syrian Army . It 's a huge victory for the revolution . And it 's a huge victory for the Syrian people . '' He added , `` It shows the whole world that Bashar al-Assad only understands the language of force . Today , we released them by our hand . '' Oruc told CNN in a telephone interview that four Turkish nationals and one Palestinian were also released by the Syrian government as part of the deal . The foundation 's teams in Damascus handled the exchange , which took place at various police stations , he said . By late Wednesday , the freed Iranians were in Damascus and the freed Syrians had returned to their homes , he said . Read more : What 's next for Syria in 2013 ? According to the charity , the swap is the result of three months of negotiations . Among the freed Syrians and Turks were four `` bride activists , '' women who were wearing their wedding dresses when they were arrested protesting violence in their country , Miqdad said . Some of the Syrian and Turkish prisoners had been held in the capital 's main prison , and others in a prison run by the intelligence branch , Miqdad said . Read more : Snowstorms thrash Middle East . He said the released Iranians were members of a group abducted last August by rebels in Damascus . The Iranian government denied rebel claims that the freed Iranians were members of Iran 's Revolutionary Guard . Tehran says they are Shiite pilgrims who were in Syria visiting a holy site in Damascus when they were abducted by `` foreign-backed militants . '' Opposition leaders accused al-Assad of valuing the freedom of a few dozen Iranians above the release of thousands of Syrian loyalist soldiers believed to be in rebel custody . `` One Iranian person means more to him than a thousand soldiers , '' Miqdad said . `` The command came direct from Tehran . '' Read more : Report describes brutal torture in Syria . `` The big prize for the regime is the Iranians , keeping them happy , '' said George Sabra , vice president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces . `` The regime never cared about the lives of the civilian population or even his own armed forces . '' Syria 's state-run SANA news agency reported that `` Iran hoped that permanent , comprehensive security and stability return to Syria '' and said the Iranian Foreign Ministry had characterized the exchange as a release of Iranians who had been abducted in Syria . It urged respecting principles declared in international agreements that ban the attacking of innocents and consider the abductions as contradictory to the principles of human rights . Read more : Local diplomacy wins in tense Syria prisoner exchange . Meanwhile , as the Syrian war ground on , the United Nations said Wednesday that Lakhdar Brahimi , the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria , would meet Friday with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns . The meeting , to be held in Geneva , Switzerland , would be `` aimed at furthering their discussions to arrive at a political solution to the crisis in Syria , '' a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said . But on the ground , blood kept flowing . A car bomb rocked the Damascus suburb of Modamieyah on Wednesday , with reports of deaths and injuries , said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , an activist group . Fighting also continued in the Taftanaz area of northern Syria , where rebels were engaged in a battle for a key Syrian air base . Al-Nusra Front , a militant group that the United States has designated as a terrorist movement , is among three rebel factions attacking the base in Idlib province , rebels have said . Elsewhere , wintry weather appeared to put a brake on some military operations . Read more : Scavenging for food , Syrian children witness war . CNN 's Saad Abedine , Salma Abdelaziz and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report .
The prisoner swap is a `` huge victory '' for the Syrians rebel movement , a spokesman says . The 76 prisoners held by the Syrian government include Syrians and Turks . Opposition leader : ` ` The big prize for the regime is the Iranians , keeping them happy ''