Army Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan warned that certain “reactionary” regional countries are attempting to send militants of the so-called Islamic State terrorist group to Iran’s border areas, stressing the preparedness of armed forces to give a “crushing” response to them.
“The threat of Islamic State is not a new and serious threat to us and we have defined a 40-km redline [within neighboring countries where IS operates] and warned them not to cross the redline, otherwise they will face a crushing response by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces,” Pourdastan told reporters in Tehran on Monday, Fars News Agency reported.
“Of course, we have reinforced our forces along borders and announced our preparedness to deal with any threats,” he said.
Noting that Iran is aware of IS presence in northern Afghanistan, its allegiance to the Taliban and its attempts to come close to Iranian borders, Pourdastan quoted the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei as saying that “certain reactionary regional states are interested in the presence of IS at Iran’s borders”.
