Iran Increases Security at Western Borders

No Chance for Islamic State to ‘Pose Any Threat’ - Iran

Iran said today it has strengthened its border guard units deployed at Ilam and Kermanshah provinces, bordering Iraq, to counter any attack by the Islamic State militants who control parts of Diyala near the Iranian border. 

“The Islamic Republic border guards deployed at the borders use state-of-the art tools and optical equipment to monitor the smallest moves along the border,” said Brig. Gen. Lotfali Pakbaz, the commander of border guards in Ilam province.

“The guards are watching the country’s borders so carefully that there has not remain any chance for the Takfiri terrorist groups, including the Islamic State, to pose any threat for Iran,” Gen. Pakbaz added. (Fars News Agency, 4 October)

Photo credit: Iranian border guards (FNA)

  

Iranian Border Guards End Large-Scale Drills

The Iranian border guards today ended their four-day wargames in the four western provinces bordering Iraq, Khouzestan, Ilam, Kermanshah and Kurdistan. The exercises, codenamed ‘Eqtedar 3’, involved some 4,000 border guards and training in weapons, tactics, counter-terrorism and counter-smuggling, Fars News Agency reported.

“The objective of the drills were enhancing border guards power in confronting threat,” said Brig. Gen. Hossein Zolfaqari, border guards commander.

Gen. Zolfaqari did not elaborate what particular threats the guards could be confronting in near future. The New York Times, however, reported that the security situation in Iraq was deteriorating, with Sunni insurgents closing in on western outskirts of Baghdad.

The ‘Eqtedar 3’ exercises could probably mean that Iran is concerned of any spillover effects of the security situation in the neighboring Iraq.

Photo credit: An Iranian border guard at Iraq border (FNA)

Death of Iran's Fifth Abducted Border Guard Unsubstantiated - Commander

Commander of the Iranian Border Guards Brig. Gen. Hossein Zolfaqari said today the death of the fifth abducted guard has not been proved. The Baluch militant group Jaish ul-Adl had said it executed Jamshid Danaie-Far last month.

“Don’t accept any quotes (from Jaish ul-Adl) about the issue of the border guards, there is no proof substantiating the martyrdom of Danaie-Far and no evidence has been presented to us in this regard," Zolfaqari told reporters in Tehran. (Fars News Agency, 12 April)

The four Iranian border guards were handed over to Iranian officials in Pakistan last Friday and returned home last Sunday, two months after their abduction.

Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli had said on Thursday that Tehran will continue pursuing the fate of the fifth border guard abducted by Jaish ul-Adl.

Photo credit: Brig. Gen. Hossein Zolfaqari, commander of Iran's Border Guards (FNA)

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 Seeks UN Help to Free Abducted Border Guards

No Sign of Abducted Guards in Pakistan - PAK Foreign Ministry

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif today asked for help from the United Nations to secure the release of the abducted Iranian border guards.

In an urgent plea sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday. Zarif said, “Mere condemnation of acts of terrorism is not enough,” and asked for concrete actions by the UN and the international community to free the guards. [Facebook (Zarif)/AFP, 27 March]

The Baluch militant group Jaish-ul Adl abducted five frontier guards on 6 February and said this week that it has executed one of them. Ban on Tuesday condemned the killing as an “appalling act” and urged that the perpetrators be brought to justice. (AFP, 27 March)

Meanwhile, Pakistan said today that there are no signs of abducted Iranian guards in Pakistan.

“Our authorities have combed Pakistani territory in search of missing Iranian guards, however, there are no clues that they are in Pakistan,” said Pakistani Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, adding that the body of one of the guards reportedly killed by his captors was not found on Pakistani territory. (AAP, 27 March)

Aslam also said Pakistan is “neither apologetic with Iran” and nor wants that Iran will have “aggressive attitude.”.

The guards are believed to have been transferred to the Pakistani side of Baluchistan Iran on several occasions, and as late as yesterday, has hinted of a military incursion into Pakistan to free them.

Iran Demands Release of Frontier Guards from Pakistan

Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli today demanded immediate release of abducted Iranian border guards from Pakistan.

“The Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Security and other Iranian bodies have attempted to (work with Pakistan) to release the abducted frontier guards. We hope that the information disseminated on the death of one of them is untrue, but if this information is confirmed, we will be forced to resort to other measures to protect our borders,” Rahmani Fazli said. (IRIB, 26 March)

The tone of Rahmani Fazeli’s demand suggests that Iran might be getting ready to intervene militarily to free the guards. If such decision is made politically, and if Iran has good intelligence on the whereabouts of the detained guards, it will be expected that the IRGC Special Forces, the Saberin, supported by elements from other military units, to enter the Pakistani Baluchistan on the search and rescue mission.

However such intervention will complicate Iran-Pakistan’s relations, especially with the Pakistani military and the ISI who are in charge of Baluchistan’s security.

File photo: Iranian Frontier Guard at Pakistani Border in Baluchistan (IRNA)

Jaish ul-Adl: Execution of Iranian Border Guard – Confirmation by Iran

UPDATE: Iran has confirmed that the militant Baluch group Jaish ul-Adl has executed one of the five border guards. (Fars News Agency, 25 March)

Jaish ul-Adl identified the slain guard as Pasdar Corporal First Class Jamshid Danayeefar. Fars New Agency has identified Danayeefar by a red circle in the original photo released by Jaish ul-Adl (above.)

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The militant Baluch group Jaish ul-Adl on Sunday announced the execution of one of the five Iranian border guards it has kept in detention since abducting them on 6 February in Jakigour region, on Iranian side of Baluchistan. 

Jaish ul-Adl announced the execution on its Twitter account. It identified the slain guard as Pasdar Corporal First Class Jamshid Danayeefar. The group said its action was in retaliation of the recent execution by Iran of one of its own members. The group also said it would deliver Danayeefar’s body to the authorities in return for 50 bodies of its members it claimed to have been executed in Iran.

Today, Iran’s official news agency IRNA conformed the report of the execution, citing an informed source in Pakistan. The Iranian Interior Ministry, however, denied the report. Its spokesman said, “We don’t confirm this report; were it true, we would have been informed.” (Fars News Agency, 24 March)

Iranian Interior Ministry did not say who would have informed them if the report were true. Jaish ul-Adl is believed to have transferred the guards to Pakistani Baluchistan. If true, then the powerful Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, with its vast presence in the province, should know about the location where the guards are kept. IRNA and Interior Ministry did not disclose the sources of their conflicting reports, or whether the Iranian authorities are coordinating their actions with their Pakistani counterparts and the ISI.  

The Iranian authorities had said in recent days that they were negotiating with the militants for the border guards’ release, without disclosing the terms of such agreement. Now that Jaish ul-Adl has announced the execution of one of the guards, it is not clear if they would still pursue negotiations, as opposed to engaging in military operations, including sending in the IRGC’s Special Forces, that they had hinted last month, to free the rest of hostages.