Deputy
Commander of IRGC Ground Forces Brig. Gen. Javad Azimifar said in Tehran
today that ISIL and its allied insurgent groups “do not dare to come close to
the (Iranian) borders.”
“Groups like the ISIL don’t dare to approach the Iranian borders; they are not present in areas even thousands of kilometers away from the country's borders because Iran's borders are the most insecure place for their presence and moves,” Gen. Azimifar said. (Fars News Agency/ 26 July)
Azimifar added that Iranian Armed Forces are ready to give a crushing response to the ISIL-led insurgents if they “dare to even think of making an aggression against the borders.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Defense Minister General Hossein Dehqan told Iranian news agency ISNA that ISIL poses “no threat to Iran.”
“The members of the terrorist organizations are mercenaries, and want to instill fear in the region,” Dehqan said. (ISNA, 26 July)
It was not clear why Gen. Azimifar made the threat against the Islamic State at this time; if they have detected IS movements toward the Iranian borders. Also it's interesting that the Iranian defense minister calls ISIL “mercenaries.” Interesting in the sense that IRGC’s Quds Force has setup, funded and operates several Shia militias of different nationalities fighting in Iraq and Syria, or mercenaries. Perhaps Dehqan believes there are differences between Sunni mercenaries and Shia mercenaries.
The Islamic State is operating in Northern and Northwestern Iraq near the country's borders with Turkey and Syria, and a few hundred miles to the Iranian borders.
File photo: Iranian Border Guards. (FNA)
