IRGC Chief Inspects Readiness Of Saravan Border Guards

Zahedan, March 29, IRNA – Following commissioning of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) forces the responsibility of safeguarding Saravan region bordersˈ security IRGC Commander Brigadier General Mohammad-Ali Jaˈfari visited that regionˈs borders on Friday. Brigadier General Jaˈfari in his visit assessed the extent of readiness of Qods Headquarters forcesˈ readiness in performing their new mission. The commissioning of the IRGC forces as border guards in the countryˈs southeastern region of Saravan is an aftermath of martyrdom of 14 IRI Army border guards and kidnapping of five more of them in the course of the past few months by terrorists coming from Pakistanˈs side of the international border. The IRGCˈs Qods Headquarters forces have been commissioned to ensure the security of 300 kilometers of the Iranian borders in Saravan region following the increased activities of the terrorists along Iranˈs Sistan and Balouchestan shared borders with Pakistan in the course of the past few months. Brigadier General Jaˈfari expressed hope during the visit that the IRGC forces, in collaboration with the regional people and tribal forces, will manage to boost the border security to unprecedented levels. The IRGC chief stressed the great importance of full information domineering aimed at providing a security umbrella along the Iranian borders, relying on various concerned forcesˈ overlapping cooperation, including among the IRGC forces, the intelligence forces, and the IRI Army and police forces, aimed at effective suppression of any type aggressive attempt against the regional peace and security. ˈThe terrorist grouplets and anti-revolutionary forces know quite well that they lack support among the Iranian citizens in the region and their cruel and inhumane conduct which is backed by the intelligence forces of the West and the Zionists will not contribute to changing their loathed status in the eyes of the Iranian nation,ˈ he said. The Iranian guards were abducted in the Iranian southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan on February 6 and were transferred to Pakistan. Later, the so-called Jaish-ul-Adl terrorist group that had earlier martyred 14 Iranian border guards posted photos of the five men on twitter and claimed responsibility for the abduction. Jaish-ul-Adl’s name was raised for the first time in October when they killed 14 Iranian border guards in an ambush near the city of Saravan in the Iranian province of Sistan and Balouchestan. The group claimed responsibly for the attack and said that it was in retaliation for the alleged role of Iran in the Syrian crisis and the purported unfair treatment of Sunnis in Iran. According to Hojjatoleslam Ebrahim Hamidi, head of Justice Department of Sistan and Balouchestan province, Iran has also asked the Interpol to track down the kidnappers. Also on Friday, the interim Friday prayers leader of Tehran Hojjatoleslam Ahmad Khatami called on Iranian security forces to destroy Jeish al-Adl terrorist group as they did in 2010 when they captured and executed Abdul-Malek Rigi, the leader of Jundallah militant organization. Khatami condemned the martyrdom of one of Iranian border guards, who were kidnapped into Pakistan on February 6 by Jeish al-Adl terrorists. He held Pakistani government responsible for the safety of abducted border guards and dismissed claims by Pakistani ambassador to Tehran that the border guards are not held in Pakistan. In response to a recent claim by an American official that the US is closely monitoring the case of Iranian border guards, Khatami accused the US of backing an Arab country in the region, which, he said, is behind the kidnapping and has a hand in the bloodshed of innocent people also in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan./end