Iran Warns Pakistan against Insurgent Activities on Iran Border

IRGC Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami said today that the Iranian military may enter Pakistani territory in pursuit of Iranian Baluch insurgent group Jaish al-Adl if the Pakistani government does not take concrete actions against them. In recent months, the militant group has carried out several armed attacks on border posts in Iranian Baluchistan. Four LEF officers were killed in two separate attacks in border city of Saravan on 8-9 October.

Last week an LEF aircraft carrying several senior LEF officers crashed near Zahedan, the provincial capital. The LEF team was to visit the area to investigate the recent attacks by the insurgents.

Jaish al-Adl (“Army of Justice”) and its predecessor organization, the Jundallah, have waged an armed struggle against the Islamic Republic, employing terrorism, kidnapping and armed attacks on LEF. The group says it is fighting against the government for its sectarian anti-Sunni policies and to protect the Sunni rights in Baluchistan.  

IRGC’s Gen. Salami said that maintaining border security should be an important common issue between Iran and Pakistan.

“We do not interfere in the affairs of any country, but if they do not fulfill their obligations we have to act,” Salami said. (IRNA/Trend, 16 October)

File photo: An Iranian border guard in Baluchistan (FNA)

IRGC declares it has constructed highly advanced air defense system

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Lieutenant Commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami has said that his organization now has a domestically produced missile defense system that is more sophisticated than the Russian S-300 air defense units Iran has in the past tried to acquire.

He declared that it is, "An air defense system more advanced than what they didn't supply to us due to their strategic interests."

He said this system will not be displayed to the media or the general public but will instead for now "remain confidential." (Ground Report, June 1)

Iran had in 2007 signed an $800 million contract with Russia to buy five S-300 missile defines systems. However in 2010 the Russians refused to fulfill its side of the agreement and expanded sanctions the UN Security Council imposed on Iran in that year. Iran accordingly filed a $4 billion lawsuit with Russia in the international arbitration court in Geneva. Which still has to be examined (Fars News, May 31)

Salami went as far as to claim that these missiles have "pinpoint precision capability when fired at mobile targets. This might be impossible in terms of science, but it is true and, in addition to us, only the Russians might possess this technology and even the Americans do not have it."

IRGC deputy commander cites military success in Syria, in reference to election

Above: Brig. Gen. Salami speaking at an event earlier this week

According to Mehr News Agency (28MAY14):

Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami told Mehr News that Syrian government lead on battlefields had made possible holding presidential elections and would indicate that terrorists were in decline in terms of sweep.

Asked for his evaluation of Syrian developments, Salami said that the Syrian government was able to loom large in battlefields and the balance of power is heavy for the Syrian government’s side.

“This victory in battle fields was the reason of launching the elections in Syria and in a political process which shows the terrorists and their supporters in decline of power and hopefully the decline would continue,” said Salami.

IRGC Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Salami's comments offer an indirect form of Iranian corroboration for data studied by NATO, which last year reported figures of up to 70 percent support for the Syrian government. This level of support can only have been strengthened by recent successes on the battlefield.

Expat voting in foreign locations indicate the potential for a relatively high turnout when voting subsequently takes place in government-held territory within Syria. In ways, this may somewhat mirror the American presidential election of 1864, which was also conducted during a civil war. In this historical example, polling centers were likewise provided in government supported territory, and where also government success on the battlefield translated into electoral success for the incumbent president, Abraham Lincoln.

Above: Syrians voting for president at the Syrian embassy in Tehran 

Photos: Tasnim News Agency