VEVAK claims arrest of two terror cells at Iranian border provinces

IEDs said by VEVAK discovered in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan

According to PressTV, dated 21NOV15:

Iranian security forces have disbanded two terror cells, which were planning to carry out bomb attacks, in two provinces, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry [VEVAK] says.

Officials at the ministry said on Saturday that one of the terrorist groups was busted in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

The terrorists were planning to blow up over 150 kilograms of explosives in the form of ten bombs on the eastern Iranian border region.

Authorities added that another cell connected to groups hostile to the Islamic Republic, which had entered the country to commit acts of terror, was also smashed in West Azerbaijan Province.

Security forces also discovered and confiscated a large number of weapons and ammunition from the terror cell.

COMMENTARY: On 22NOV15 IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari claimed the Salafi Jihadist terror cell arrested in West Azerbaijan Province have been linked to ISIL.

Quoted by the ISNA, the IRGC commander stated Iranian security forces were monitoring attempts by militants to "create insecurity" in Iran.

"IS has multi-layered support networks. One such network was [also] identified in Kermanshah province (in western Iran) and its members were arrested," Jafari told Iranian media reporters.

Imagery detailing IEDs planted alongside the Rāsk-Iranshahr section of Iran's Road 99

Detail of IED's, among ten discovered in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan

IRGC members at site of diffused IEDs discovered in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan

Photos: YJC.ir

Iran’s leadership views on military ramifications posed by JCPOA and UNSC Res. 2231

Sampling of recent quotes by Iran’s leadership in reference to JCPOA and UNSC Resolution 2231 (2015) and their potential impact on the country’s military, followed by a brief commentary at bottom of post:

“Issues related to ballistic missiles have never been on the agenda of the talks, and the [Islamic Republic] will implement its programs in this [aerospace] field with determination.” Minister of Defense IRGC Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan [source: Sepah News]

PMD issues with the [IAEA] have been agreed on, and we will act accordingly; certainly, we will not grant access to military secrets…to any authority.” Minister of Defense IRGC Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan [source: Sepah News]

“The Americans ought to have understood this meaning by now: [technological] developments do not standstill for these types of of equipment and weapons; we do not seek permission from any [external] authority to arm our country’s armed forces, and we equip our armed forces in proportion to threats.” Minister of Defense IRGC Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan [source: Sepah News]

“I can explicitly tell you that the Islamic Republic of Iran under no conditions will compromise on its defensive positions and will build any type of missile it deems appropriate— other than missiles that carry nuclear warheads— whether it be with liquid fuel or solid fuel, whether it be long range or short range.” Ali Akbar Velayati, President of Expediency Discernment Council's Center for Strategic Research [source: Khamenei.ir]

“Unlike the 1995 Dayton Accords that placed specific military restrictions on Bosnia, Iran will decide for itself what its military needs are and will build whatever it wants, whether it be “fighter jets, anti-aircraft weapons, tanks or other armored tools.” Ali Akbar Velayati, President of Expediency Discernment Council's Center for Strategic Research [source: Khamenei.ir]

“The missile and arms embargo, from the beginning has been [of limited impact] and will be removed after a certain period, and the violation of these sanctions will no longer be a violation of the agreement.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif [source YJC.ir]

"[Possessing] ballistic missiles doesn not violate JCPOA… it is a violation of a paragraph in the annex of the [UNSC] Resolution 2231 which is non-binding." Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif [source YJC.ir]

“This paragraph [of the annex] references missiles with nuclear warheads capability, and since we don’t design any of our missiles for carrying nuclear weapons, this paragraph is not relevant to us at all.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif [source YJC.ir]

“The arms embargo will end in a span of five years…The S-300 [SAM system] is not included in these restrictions and is outside the sphere of the IAEA.” Abbas Araghchi, Deputy for Legal and International Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [source: Mashregh News]

“[The West] may make statements but Iran will in no way allow the inspection of military sites, nor will Iran allow interference on what types of defensive weapons Iran can or cannot have.” Abbas Araghchi, Deputy for Legal and International Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [source: Mashregh News]

“First, I have to state one more time there is not one official in the Islamic Republic that is opposed to a good deal in the negotiations. Therefore, the foreign media have tried to create untrue polarization on the issue of the nuclear negotiations in the country.” IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari [source: Tasnim News Agency]

“For me, as a military official, what is more important than anything else … is the protection and promotion of Iran’s defensive abilities.” IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari [source: Tasnim News Agency]

On the agreement that the Security Council voted on, Jafari said, “Some points included in the draft [are] clearly contrary to and a violation of the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, specifically of Iran’s arms capabilities and will never be accepted by us.” IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari [source: Tasnim News Agency]

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COMMENTARY: Where certain American observers express concern that Iran would cheat on the nuclear agreement to embark upon or further advance a nuclear weapons program, Iranian figures express a parallel concern that Western countries would cheat by taking advantage of JCPOA provisions to inspect Iranian military sites for the purposes of espionage activities targeting their conventional arms military industrial complex. Iran's military is sensitive to any potential degrading of its deterrent force against attack, as are all militaries the world over.

While Iranian leadership may also display an annoyance to the perception of impinged sovereignty, in general they maintain that they possessed the upper hand in the nuclear negotiations in not possessing a nuclear weapons program, nor the desire to embark upon one-- meaning this part of the agreement was easy to trade away.

What's more, according to a high-profile Iranian commentator, for the Islamic Republic, the main payoff from the nuclear deal was not, first and foremost, sanctions relief.  Rather, “For Iran, what was important was to have a peaceful nuclear program.  So, the notion that Iran’s path towards a nuclear weapon is blocked is fine for Iranians because it’s not what they were doing in the first place.  The biggest gain for Iran here was the fact that its peaceful nuclear program, and the fuel cycle, was recognized…"

Zarif and the Iranian nuclear negotiators rendering of the annex referencing "missiles with nuclear warheads capability" is noteworthy, and appears to be another clever means of surmounting the divergence of positions that ultimately culminated in a JCPOA.

IRGC Commander Accuse Saudis of ‘Killing a Nation’

IRGC Commander Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari said in Tehran that Saudi Arabia was “shamelessly and disgracefully bombing and killing a nation” by carrying airstrikes in Yemen. (IRNA, 27 April)

Iran and Saudi Arabia support opposing sides in Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition of Sunni countries has conducted airstrikes against the Huthi (AnsarAllah) insurgents since late March to stop their advance into southern Yemen and the post city of Aden. They captured the capital Sanaa last September. IRGC’s Quds Force is major supporter of the Huthis, who are predominantly Shia.

In Syria and Iraq conflicts, Iran’s role is reversed where it supports the governments against the predominately Sunni insurgents.

File photo: IRGC Commander General Mohammad Ali Jafari (IRNA)

Sanctions Should Be Lifted In a Single Step – IRGC Commander

Issue of How Sanctions Are Lifted Could Result in Failure of Nuclear Talks

IRGC Commander Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari said today in Tehran that the nuclear talks could end in failure over the issue of how sanctions are lifted.

“The importance of (nuclear) talks in the framework of our heroic flexibility rests on the proposition that in lieu of compromises offered by Iran all sanctions should be lifted in a single step,” Gen. Jafari said.

“No matter how the talks end, whether the sanctions are lifted or not, we must preserve the main values and mottos of our system. If we show any flexibility, it is within the framework of the principles and policies of our system (“nezam”) and for preserving the high esteem and power of our Islamic system and the interests of the Iranian nation,” Jafari said. “I believe the Supreme Leader’s concerns are those types of concerns.” (Fars News Agency, 11 April)

“Regarding the lifting of sanctions, there are ambiguities which need to be transparent, and we need to know that this subject of how sanctions are lifted could result in failure of the talks.”

Photo credit: IRGC Commander Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari (Fars News Agency)

IRGC Commander Endorses Lausanne Agreement

IRGC Commander General Mohammad Ali Jafari today publicly endorsed the Lausanne agreement on the country’s nuclear program. He framed his support for the agreement under a declaration of victory by Iran.

“The Iranian nation’s resistance to the U.S. thwarted Washington’s robust options for imposing its will political will on the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Gen. Jafari said. (IRNA, 7 April)

Jafari praised the efforts of the Iranian negotiating team in Lausanne, but warned of a “difficult path” ahead in future talks with the U.S.

Photo credit: IRGC Commander General Mohammad Ali Jafari; Tehran, 7 April 2015 (Mehr News Agency)

Supreme Leader rep addresses video claims on 2009 election

 

Above: still from the Facebook video depicting IRGC commander's commentary on the 2009 election

According to DefaPress:

[Representative of the Supreme Leader to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Hojjat al-Eslam Ali Saidi] remarked on the video clip posted onlineof the IRGC commander and the 2009 sedition.

Saidi stated "Anyone can have different interpretations regarding the intent and object of the speaker when it is said. [However] paying attention to the [online video] is unnecessary, as editing before and after a sentence cannot communicate the [complete] meaning of the speaker."

It appears the Iranian establishment views this edited video and it's transcribed content in English as non-reflective of the "intent and object" of the speaker: IRGC Commander Major General Mohammed Ali Jafari. It would be interesting for the Facebook poster of the video to come forth with an unedited rendering of the complete speech.

IRGC Commander: Election of A Reformist Was a ‘Red Line’ in 2009

In a leaked video posted on the Facebook, IRGC Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari is seen discussing Revolutionary Guards’ response to 2009 elections with a group of senior IRGC leadership, including Khamenei’s representative in IRGC. During the presidential election that year year, reformist candidates Mousavi and Karrubi, who are now detained, ran against Ahmadinejad. In the video Jafari makes clear that the IRGC viewed the election of a reformist and the return to power of the reform movement as unacceptable: 

“The worry and concern which existed and the red-line that existed for the forces of the revolution was that the forces that were against the revolution and its values, which during the period of the Second of Khordad [Khatami’s reform era, 1997-2005] had found an opportunity and had penetrated the regime, would once again come to power,” Jafari said.

“This trend [victory by the reformists] was a worrying trend. All of us analyzed that if this trend continues, the election would go into a second round [between Mousavi and Admadinejad], and it were not clear who the ultimate winner [in the second round] would be.”

“In the election and the events afterward [Green Movement], it became clear why they [reformists] insisted so much that the IRGC and Basij, under the label ‘military forces’, should not interfere with the election so that they could carry out their plot and the IRGC and Basij do not bother them.”

“Many officials, many elites, and even some clergymen are unclear in relation to the events that happened (interfering in the election), and some still have objections.”

Jafari also discusses IRGC’s role in suppressing the Green Movement after Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the presidential election few minutes after the polls were closed.  

“Two very fundamental and strategic actions had an impact in clearing up this affair. One was the very widespread arrests which was carried out by the security forces, and partially the IRGC, at the level of planners and ideologues of this affair.”

“And then the confrontations which in a widespread manner, with the presence of the Basij popular forces and the IRGC, and with the assistance of the police and security organizations, took place for confronting this affair, including the most important one which took place on Saturday afternoon.”

The latter reference is to the crackdown on the Saturday following Khamenei’s Friday Prayer sermon in which he openly sided with Ahmadinejad and ordered the protesters to leave the streets. The confrontations on that Saturday led to a number of casualties, including the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, who became a symbol of the Green Movement.

Mohammad Nourizad who has posted the video on his Facebook account is a former journalist for the conservative daily Kayhan. He was arrested after writing a critical letter about the crackdown on the Green Movement to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Video: Norizad’s Facebook account - https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=870388962988721

Translation: Some of the English translation of Jafari’s remarks is from IranPolitic.com blog.

File photo: IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari (IRNA)

IRGC Put in Charge of Border Areas with Pakistan

UPDATE: IRGC to Give ‘Crushing Response’ to Abductors

UPDATE: IRGC director of public relations, Brig. Gen. Ramezan Sharif, told reporters in Tehran on Sunday that IRGC is “planning to give a crushing response to the abductors of Iranian border guards after taking control of Saravan borders in Sistan and Baluchistan province.” (Fars News Agency, 30 March)

Gen. Sharif’s announcement confirms the expectations that the IRGC’s move to militarize the border security, away from law enforcement agency NAJA, would mean it was planning a military incursion into Pakistan to conduct search and rescue operations.
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Below is the original article posted here on 29 March.

IRGC Ground Forces (IRGC-GF) was put in charge of security of a 300-km stretch of border with Pakistan. IRGC-GF’s southeastern headquarters in the city of Saravan, the so-called Quds HQ (not to be confused with IRGC-QF), took over the responsibility from Law Enforcement Forces (NAJA) and its border patrol unit, Fars News Agency reported today.

Last month, five border guards were abducted in that area by the Baluch militant group Jaish ul-Adl, and reportedly transferred to the Pakistani side of Baluchistan. Jaish ul-Adl has since executed one of the guards.

Yesterday, IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari visited Saravan. (IRNA, 29 March)

“The IRGC's Quds Headquarters has been commissioned to ensure the security of 300 kilometers (186 miles) of Iran's border areas in the Southeastern city of Saravan in Sistan and Baluchestan province in a bid to step up security in the region,” Jafari said. (Fars News Agency, 29 March)

Gen. Jafari’s visit to the region came amid growing expectations that IRGC Special Forces, the Saberin, supported by IRGC-GF units, will soon conduct search and rescue operations inside Pakistani territory to free the remaining abductees.

The Iranian government, however, has been pressuring Pakistan to take the lead in freeing the guards before any military intervention across the border. It is not known if the IRGC or the Pakistanis know the exact location where the guards are being held.

Photo credit: IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari (Press TV)

Iran Officials Criticize Kerry

IRGC Commander Major General Ali Jafari dismissed what he called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's threat of military action against Tehran over its nuclear program, Iranian media reported.

Kerry had said that the military option was still on the table if Iran did not live up to its nuclear commitments under Geneva’s Joint Plan of Action it signed with the six world powers in November. Kerry made the comments in response to a question at WEF in Davos that what happens if Iran did not implement its commitments under the Geneva deal.

Gen. Jafari called the threat “ridiculous.” He asked Kerry to stop repeating “bankrupt strategies such as the use of military power.” Jafari added that such comments help the cause of the "revolutionary Islam."

“Mr. Kerry must know that direct battle with the US is the biggest dream of pious and revolutionary people across the world. Your threats offer our revolutionary people the best opportunity,” Gen. Jafari said. (IRNA, 25 January)

IRGC deputy commander was more blunt and repeated Iran’s own old threat.

“The interests of the United States in the region will be completely destroyed in case of any military attack against Iran,” said IRGC Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri. (Press TV, 25 January)

On Sunday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said Kerry’s comments were in violation of international laws.

“These remarks are undiplomatic and have been made under the pressure of the opposition to Iran's recent nuclear deal with the world powers,” Afkham said. (IRNA, 26 January)

Kerry also elaborated on some of the outlines of a permanent deal with Iran.

“Iran must accept extensive verification, abandon plans to build a heavy-water reactor that can produce plutonium, and resolve longstanding concerns by the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Kerry said. (AP, 25 January)

File photo: IRCG Commander Ali Jafari in a press conference in Tehran in September 2012. (IRNA)

IRGC-GF 'Research & Self-Sufficiency Jihad Org.' exhibition

Recently developed Iranian combat weapons exhibited last Monday, during a visit by IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari  to the IRGC-GF’s Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization in Tehran. 

Partial view, "Project Asefeh" 23 mm, 3-barrel Gatling-type rotary cannon CIWS with claimed rate of fire 700-900 rds/min.

Saeghe, DShK-based 12.7 mm RWS

Partial view, updated ZU-23-2 twin autocannon with claimed accuracy improvement

Siavash 7.62 mm sporter rifle with 5-round magazines 

Partial view, tracked vehicle equipped with snowplow, reportedly with 240 hp engine and claimed (X-country?) speed of 60 kph

Photos: Defapress.ir and FARS News Agency

IRGC Commander Warns Rouhani on Historic Phone Call with Obama

IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari today criticized and warned Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for his historic phone call with President Obama.

“The president took a firm and appropriate position during his stay (in New York),” Gen. Jafari said in an interview with the Tasnim News. (tansimnews.com/AFP, 30 September)

“But just as he refused to meet Obama, he should also have refused to speak with him on the telephone and should have waited for concrete action by the United States,” Jafari added.

“If we see errors being made by officials, the revolutionary forces will issue the necessary warnings,” said Jafari.

The warning was a brazen interference in political affairs of the country. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had warned senior IRGC officers in a recent meeting to stay out of politics.

File photo: IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari